Life is in a constant state of flux. We are continually being asked to adapt to 'new norms' and are still adjusting to the effects of the pandemic. Instability in governments, war, climate insecurity, losing loved ones, and facing mental health crises are front and center for so many of us. I see first hand in my own life, and through my work with others how easy it is to get caught up putting out metaphorical 'fires', i.e. reacting to life rather than taking time to tend to what needs attention and care. If we can find pauses in our ...

As we move through our days, we experience so much in our own lives, work, and interactions. We are affected by the environment around us and global events. Some of us feel so much! I have always been sensitive to outside stimulus and had strong empathy for suffering. This is the gift of the healer and the artist. It can also be overwhelming and exhausting. Having strategies to release and express can provide relief. Art expression is be an excellent and effective tool. This week has been especially affecting as we navigate the news from the Middle East. Finding ways to care for ourselves ...

As I prepare to leave the Bay Area and step into a new chapter in life and work, I am in a reflective time inquiring into what I have gained over three decades of immersion in Northern California culture. This career I have cultivated has brought me into the roles of mentor, therapist and teacher (and of course 'artist'). I don't take for granted that I've landed in my purpose and calling, and that I receive tremendous value from engaging in the work. In my recent Art Cures retreat at the San Francisco Zen Center I gathered with many students and clients that I have supported over ...

I want to talk about my first hand experience with rejection. Part of achieving success as a creative person is learning to market oneself, be visible, and in turn find strategies to manage disappointment. Like most of us, I have had my share. And, despite the knowledge that rejection is to be expected, it is hard to accept when encountering it. Getting the 'no' from a film festival, a decline letter from a grant proposal, a brush-off from a potential client, or being 'ghosted' when sharing work can be discouraging. All of these instances have given me the opportunity to ...

Happy Holidays! As 2022 winds to a close, and we get ready for a different pace over the holidays, I am thanking you for being a part of my creative community. I find ongoing inspiration from the art expressions of the people I work with through my practice and in my courses. I also have so many incredible colleagues and artist friends who model how art can be a practice of healing, connection and social change. I wanted to offer you an exercise to tap into a creative mindset that can also offer you time for contemplation and integration as ...

This is my artist friend Henry Sultan. I have known Henry for a few decades, and now I'm in my 50's and he is in his 80's! We first met when I was the Art Curator at the California Institute of Integral Studies where I hosted an art show with Henry and his wife Jenny Badger Sultan. They have both dedicated their life to painting and the creative path. Currently, I live a block from Henry and Jenny's home and they have one of the best art studios I have ever encountered. You can see it from the street; it ...

In my ‘split’ life as arts therapist/ coach/ teacher/ artist, I am a grand juggler and I thrive on being actively engaged in life and art. My work can be intense, and being a creative person and a business owner doesn’t come without sacrifice. I have to be diligent about my self-care to maintain my stamina. This was especially true during the pandemic. In early 2020, in addition to my practice and teaching, I was at the tail end of a long creation phase with a documentary film, The Creative High. I started to see very clearly that stress was taking its toll. I could feel it in my ...

“A flow state…This is when you are so absorbed in what you are doing that you lose all sense of yourself, and time seems to fall away, and you are flowing into the experience itself. It is the deepest form of focus and attention that we know of…We know at some level, that when we are not focusing, we are not using one of our greatest capacities.” - Johann Hari As I write this, I am sitting at a local cafe. They are playing rhythmic alternative music, the doors are open and fans are overhead on a sunny day in ...

It was an absolute honor to be interviewed by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation for an online blog entitled Meet Adriana Marchione, director of “The Creative High”.  This Q&A, facilitated by Jeremiah Gardner, was originally published for Hazelden Betty Ford’s monthly Recovery Advocacy Update. If you’d like to receive their advocacy emails, subscribe today. Q: What does recovery look like for you, and how has it empowered different aspects of your life? Recovery has been a waking-up process for me which is ever-evolving. It was a rebirth, which over time gave me the ability to face life with open eyes and a ...

The best forms of healing, therapy, and meditation are learning to trust. The trust is the genuine kind.” - Jack Kornfeld This newsletter is dedicated to Theresa Cangelosi who was my therapist for eight years. She guided me through the most difficult times of my life. I came to her after an estrangement from a spiritual mentor during an emotional crisis. A few years into our work together she supported me through the illness and death of my late husband due to lung cancer. Theresa was a somatic psychotherapist with a special focus working with trauma. She was Italian American which created a ...