Illness and the value of Solitude

A short reflection on how Into the Light came into being.

Last year I really did find it difficult to deal with a deterioration in my health. I had worked so hard to gain independence after the first few years of illness, that going back to needing more support was not easy.

I remember lying in the bath, thinking, “I am stuck in a rough place, but I need to push myself out again.”

I booked a retreat week at the Dechen Shying care centre. (read the story here) . I used my time to rest, to rejuvenate, to talk, to learn, to mediate, to create. I made three small sculptures, including reaching for the light again. During my next stay the book was created. The silence of the place has been instrumental to the creation of my work, and to my overall wellbeing.  
Solitude and silence, and illness, all feature in Into the Light.

Pre-orders of Into the Light, or the pledging for original art which feature in my book, or pledging any amount from €5 upwards, will help me Greatly to fund the printing of the book, and the making of the boxes. The campaign runs until the 16th July 2015

Each book will be signed and numbered and ready for collection at the book launches in September, or can be posted to anywhere in the world. (postage included )
Please log on to http://fundit.ie/project/funders/into-the-light---a-book-in-a-box, to be part of my journey.

Sculptures created during that first stay at Dechen Shying

The Into the Light book-in-a-box, the idea 'conceived' during my second stay