i have fallen in love with painting self-portraits in my journal. it is such a beautiful way to explore myself, discover new treasures and make peace with old wounds. there is something magical about talking about it and showing the painted pages, so here i am sharing my new book of self portraits:
so our next creative journaling exercise is, of course, a self portrait. this is a portrait of ourselves as an archetype. if you are not familiar with archetypes, you can read about them on wikipedia. joseph campbell really said it best “Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human manifestation…“ looking at ourselves as an archetype, looking at our lives as myths, can help us see ourselves in a new light and helps us find that secret opening. this can be difficult to explain in words, but i will show you what i did and i am sure you will be inspired by your own archetypes to play with this idea in your own way.
i chose to work with the mermaid because i have an affinity for mermaids. here is my archetype self-portrait in my journal sitting on my desk:
caroline myss has done incredible work with archetypes and has an extensive list on her website of archetypes and their meanings. (she also has wonderful books, interactive games, courses and more). you can work with any archetype at all. we can find aspects of every archetype somewhere in us, so any one of them is the perfect place to start.
you can create your self portrait however you want. i love watercolour painting. i also love collage. collage would be a simple way to make a great archetype portrait. starting with a photograph of your face, you can collage the body of the archetype, and collage background elements to tell the story of your portrait. you can draw a stick person. it really doesn’t matter how you put it together. the magic here is in exploring the qualities of the archetype you have chosen to work with, and finding them inside of you.
the act of creating an image of yourself as the archetype requires you to try on the energy of the archetype.
once you have created your portrait, write words all around it that describe the archetype. do challenge yourself here, come up with at least 15 words. as add each word to your portrait, can you find that quality inside you? working with archetypes, and relating their qualities back to you helps you to see your life as an adventure, and you as the hero.
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Your book looks amazing! I love that you can create drawings like that. Fantastic work.
thanks diane. i am really enjoying making the book.