Something to Try

who's here

Sometimes when I’m in a mood, or confused, or just looking for adventure, I ask, “Who’s here?” Then I close my eyes and scribble on a piece of paper using my non-dominant hand. Using the non-dominant hand isn’t absolutely necessary, but it helps me tap into the feeling of being receptive to something other than my normal self. For the same reason, I scribble fast, not knowing what I’m doing. I look at the scribble from different directions until I see a face or creature of some kind that I want to draw in further. I bring out these shapes, noticing how my struggles and surprises in this process comprise further revelations of whatever energies may be trying to come through.

Today when I tried it, I chose a color for the scribble with my eyes closed. (Choosing blind is another way of becoming receptive to things beyond my control.) Opening my eyes, I saw that the color I’d picked was white. Well, hell, I thought, that isn’t going to photograph very well! When I did the scribble with my non-dominant hand I could hardly see it at all. My first thought was “ghost.” But I could see a face and drew it in. Oddly, the face was smiling. A smiling ghost with jokes. This felt so opposite of the mood I was in!

So this time I kept my eyes open and chose a black ball point pen to scribble with.

Step One:

Step 2: Who’s here???

Step 3:

And that’s who’s here today (besides the smiling ghost). One is a bandit character I’ve seen before, a trickster from the Place Where Certainty Ends, and the other is a mysterious bird with a dry sense of humor…

I then proceeded to get to know these two “spirits” in various ways, mostly by writing. Movement and sounding work well too—anything that helps sustain your focus and your receptivity. Most importantly, whatever allows you to respect the autonomy of these emergent creatures, while at the same time getting acquainted with them, is a good way to go.

Several years ago, a character emerged from the tangled scribbled chaos called “Bird Dog.” I started building rapport by simply asking, “What’s a bird dog?” I was told to look more closely at the picture, and the conversation went on from there. Sometimes these characters remind us of dreams or of odd parts of ourselves.

With these two characters that came today (not to mention the ghost), I can start by describing what I see. “I see a green beak. I see two eyes that don’t match…” Sometimes when you simply describe what catches your eye, unexpected insights start to flow. Try it out.

It’s fun to imagine such creatures speaking to you, then writing down their words as if you’re taking dictation. And though it’s never entirely comfortable to find strangers in your own house, such as the bandit, bird, and ghost I found today, it can be interesting. If the rapport’s good, eventually a wild back-and-forth dialogue becomes possible, and you’ll find out quite a bit about not only who’s here, but also why.

The characters that showed up today helped me write this with a devil-may-care attitude. It’s such a relief not to obsess!!!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like share your own experiences with Who’s Here.