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Cream:  Your sensitivity to the creative arts is more than your average psychotherapist's, and your creative vision seems to run to uncommon depths. What was the first indication that you would work in the healing arts at this level?

Gwen Randall-Young:  As you might imagine, it was not my formal training that inspired me to move in this direction. I was, however, significantly influenced by the work of Milton Erickson, who used stories and metaphors in a hypnotic therapeutic process, which was profoundly transformative for his clients. He thus bypassed the logical, analytical, and often resistive left-brain, engaging the more analogic, symbolic right brain, and the subconscious. I saw that healing involved so much more than just the conscious mind.

Interestingly, while embarking on my graduate studies in psychology, I also began experimenting artistically. I would study until 10 p.m. each night, and then would ‘play’ in my studio until midnight. I was fascinated as I observed the creative process within myself. As I was drifting off to sleep at night, I would have visions of shapes and colors that seemed to drift in from another dreamworld.  The next day, I would go into my studio, and create in three dimensions something that yesterday existed only in the world of potentiality. I learned that I needed to ‘get out of the way’, and just let the process flow.  I gave free reign to the intuitive in this part of my life. I knew that I had tapped into a creative force in the universe, and that the designs were coming ‘through’ me, as opposed to being created by me.

This creative cycle led me to Hawaii, and it was there, while hiking in volcanic craters or along streambeds towards waterfalls, I realized that within that universal creative force there was much more than artistic visions. There was a deep wisdom, a clear knowing, into which we could tap. As with the artistic process, I needed to ‘get out of the way’, and just let the wisdom flow. It was hard, at first, to quiet the logical mind, and just ‘listen’ to the flow of cosmic intelligence. I just wanted to stay in Hawaii, but was told by other healers that I must return to Canada, because I was a pioneer. They said that in the years ahead, many individuals would be ready to make a shift to a higher level of consciousness, and that my purpose was to assist them in making that shift. This all sounded a little odd to a pretty conservative Canadian, but return to Canada I did.

Over the next few years I began to notice that while clients came to me with presenting problems that were common to psychologists, the underlying process for many was a shift in consciousness - but more specifically - an awakening into awareness of who they really were. I came to understand that ‘higher consciousness’ was really the soul, and that ego was like a cocoon. As we loosen and relax ego, soul consciousness is released. It seemed to me that depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and other psychological problems were a result of ‘mis-alignment’ of body/mind/soul. My purpose would be to reflect back to clients the beauty and perfection of their own soul essence. As they began to align themselves with that, as opposed to the ego-created beliefs they were carrying, not only did healing happen, but they also began a profound new journey of awareness, growth and conscious living.

So it really was the artistic process that led me to an understanding of the power of creation in life. To draw inspiration from the world of dreams, imagination, and potentiality and to transfer that to three-dimensional-reality is something we all can do, whether the canvas is stretched upon a frame, or is the fabric of our lives.

Cream:  You write for men and fathers, for mothers and children, and for the strengthening of consciousness within each or those social bodies; are there aspects of your own childhood and family life that lead you to this?

Gwen:  There was much turmoil and pain in my family when I was growing up. I was not exposed to much love or joy in my home.  I compensated by giving love to all of the little children in the neighborhood. I had a special aunt who was such a radiant, loving being, and she adored me. I saw how her love seemed to overflow her very being. She was the blueprint for me. I knew from my experience with her, how wonderful it is to be loved unconditionally.

Very few in our generation can say that we grew up feeling safe, secure and deeply loved, honored and respected. And yet, these are the very conditions required for us to blossom into the fullness of our being. So many of us are wounded. It is hard to be loving, supportive and nurturing of others when we are nursing our own wounds. Too often, the wounds of one contribute to the creation of new wounds in another.

It was my deepest desire to raise my own children with all of the love, laughter, support, encouragement and security that I would have liked as a child. I taught them to negotiate and to resolve their differences peacefully. They are all beautiful, empowered loving beings.  We have the power, with our children, to completely transform even multi-generational patterns of dysfunction.

Strengthening consciousness helps to prevent new wounds, and to heal old ones. Understanding that loving relationship with ourselves, others, and particularly our children, is what really matters in this lifetime helps us to establish priorities in an increasingly complex world.

Cream:  Regarding the recent resurgence of right-wing politics, one example existing in Western Canada, do you have an idea as to why social programs are the first things to be compromised in times of economic strain, when that strain itself affects the health and well-being of virtually all citizens?

Gwen:  I think, in our culture, only lip service is paid to the importance of the well-being of individuals. Cutting social programs affects those who have the least political clout. Materialism is still a dominant cultural imperative, and too many are more concerned about maximizing their RRSP contributions, earning more than they will ever need, getting that big screen TV, and planning their next vacation, than about those who are less fortunate, and who are suffering.


Cream:   In your opinion, can the more ‘expansive’ concepts you illustrate be integrated into enough of human consciousness to really affect the changes necessary to what might be our very survival? How?

Gwen:  For every expansive concept, there are down-to-Earth, here and now practical applications. Those concepts mean nothing if they cannot be integrated into daily living. We are a species with consciousness, and so we have the ability to choose our level of evolution. We have evolved physically through spontaneous processes of nature, and now we have the ability to alter both our own, and the collective consciousness. We also have the ability to preserve and treasure our planet, or to destroy it. We may be living the ultimate ‘choose your own ending’ story. In a holographic universe, the actions of one person can affect the hologram. If changing the world seems overwhelming, we can change ourselves. Perhaps every conscious action we take, every act of kindness, every increase in integrity, shifts the global balance just a little.

I dream of the day when, instead of stock market quotes dominating the news, we hear about how many starving babies were saved this day. Still, I think we are making progress. Technology has allowed us to be much more connected and aware of what is happening with other members of our human family throughout the world. Each of us, in our own way, can provide leadership when we see that wisdom is needed. It can be through our work, our political activity, our creative processes, our parenting, or simply by being a living example of the highest human qualities that we can muster.

Yes, I believe we can do it. I think we will see, in our lifetime, major positive shifts in global consciousness, especially if we work together, work hard at it, and put our hearts and souls into birthing a new stage in human evolution.

Cream:  When nothing short of a ‘spiritual solution’ exists for humankind, what is God, and where is God in our complicated lives and relationships?

Gwen:  Well, firstly I won’t presume to define God, and secondly, I will suggest that a ‘spiritual solution’ is not dependent on God, or on a belief in God.  What we can say is we live in an incredibly complex, miraculous universe. We can honor the cosmic intelligence out of which this living, growing ‘magnificence’ has emerged. There is a force, which holds all of the heavenly bodies in place, and a force that can connect one human heart to another. It is all a part of a pulsating, living, whole. Whether we call that God, Spirit, or something else, we can no longer deny the interconnectedness of it all – our connection to it all. The same power that created the galaxies created you and me. We are made of the same stuff. There is an indefinable ‘something’ that connects us all; we are all drops from the same cosmic ocean. Where we get into trouble is when we forget our connection, and experience ourselves as separate beings, be it individuals, or nations. That allows for duality and polarity. When we align with that connectedness, there is only love. That’s what I like to think God is – the love that connects.

You ask, “Where is God in our complicated lives and relationships?”  I want to say, that if complication is there, it might be because God is not. That is just another way of saying that what complicates life is getting wrapped up in externals, and all of ego’s contortions. These block the light of our true essence, what I like to think of as soul. I believe our soul is that part of our being that is directly connected to the energy of the universe – maybe even a little part of ‘God’ that was put into each of us to help us find our way home. We can journey our whole lives, but that journey always leads back to our heart. We really need to remember that our purpose is to love.

Cream:  Many artists, especially those whose means and resources are compromised by various circumstances, confront ‘creative blocks’ on a near-daily basis. What are some of your own techniques for getting past blocks?

Gwen:  I think blocks come from thinking and trying. Maybe we have some idea that we must come up with something that is ‘creative’ or ‘good’. So we try to ‘think’ of what to do. But you know, when you prime a pump, at first you might get a lot of muddy water. You just have to let that flow, before you get the really good stuff. So I think the trick is to get out of your head and into the flow. Just start writing, drawing, painting. Just jump in and start playing. Intend to have fun, without any attachment to outcome.

I don’t push it. If I’m not in a flow state, then I’ll go do something else – go for a walk, meditate, dance, wash the car – creativity cannot be forced. I let my intuition guide me as to when my heart and soul are ready to express.

Books and CDs are also available at Banyen Books in Vancouver, or directly from Gwen at gwendall@shaw.ca

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