We'll Prescribe You a Cat: Heart Warming Healing

Book Image Credit to GoodReads. Graphic Design by Nina

    "A cat a day keeps the doctor away.’ Cats are more effective than any other medicine out there." Would you believe if someone tells you this? Odd as this seems, research confirms this true when it comes to mental well-being. Findings say cats improve sleep, give companionship, create healthy routine, provide comfort and help cope with loss.

    If you love reading and cats, the novel “We’ll prescribe you a cat” by Syou Ishida is perfect for you. The story does not only have one cat in it but many. The imagery of the cats are so adorably vivid. The story opens with something that sparks curiosity. It gripped my attention right away. It kept me reading to find out what is happening. The pacing is just right as it unfolds little by little. The novel seemed to have different stories in it woven into one. The first part was about a man who was going through sleeplessness, tinnitus and lack of appetite. These symptoms were caused by the stressful environment at his work. He finds himself at the Nakagyo Kokoro Clinic for the Soul with a cat in his arms. The plot twist made me feel worried and gave me a sense of relief at the turn of the events. The ending warmed my heart. I guess the cat distribution rings true about this first story, a cat chooses their owner somehow.

    The second part in “We’ll prescribe you a cat” is hilarious. Definitely filled with good vibes. It is light but still had depth about the positive power of appreciative, kind and uplifting sincere words. People feel seen, acknowledged and loved. Would you believe a cat can lead to that realization? How that happened is for you to find out once you read “We’ll prescribe you a cat.”

    There are times in our life that we have regrets and wished we could turn back time to make things right. How often do we get that chance? In this third story, a mother finds herself with a cat that flashes back to her childhood. The striking resemblance of the cat to the kitten in her past was uncanny. It was as if fate gave her the chance to heal from regret and guilt. She can find closure in being able to take care of a cat. Now did the woman took the chance? Hmmm, curious as a cat? Well, you better read the novel. This one is a beautiful and mysterious way how life comes full circle.

    Does life need to be perfect before we can enjoy it? The fourth story just might answer that. Two cats turn a perfectionist woman’s life topsy turvy. She finds herself softened by adoring daydreams of her cat. More tolerant of imperfections and fueled by joy, love and admiration for her cats, these turned into overflowing creativity in her designs. This opened doors to a cat loving client. At the same time, she finally confronts which part of her life needed a sense of direction the most.

    Is it possible to heal from guilt, regret and heartbreak? The fifth story in this novel “We’ll prescribe you a cat” speaks of how these emotions build up in a woman’s life. She carries her guilt, regret and heartbreak. A cat that is an epitome of her favorite food and the moon enters her life suddenly. Is this cat enough to heal her heart? The novel starts to gradually shift into a perplexing plot twist towards the end. It gets more interesting when the puzzling conversations of the nurse and the doctor and their resemblance to other people becomes apparent all throughout the story.  The novel “We’ll prescribe you a cat” is magical, mysterious, light with just the right depth, heartwarming and healing.

    Would you read "We'll Prescribe You A Cat"? Let me know in the comments. If you enjoyed reading my blog, please like, comment, follow and share. All Rights Reserved. Book Image credit to GoodReads. Graphic Design by Nina ©TheBlissfulInkblot

Self-Love Journaling: A Soft Start to Self-Healing

Image Credit to Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash

    Self-love is not pretending everything is fine.  Sometimes it’s simply choosing not to abandon yourself. If your inner voice has been harsh lately, this journal was made for you. I created a guided journal to help with that journey. Be kinder to yourself. Avail the Digital Self-Love Journal here: https://ko-fi.com/s/b401a7a248

If you enjoy journaling and reading books, please like, comment, follow and share. Image credit to Giullia Bertelli on Unsplash. Background Video Music credit to Canva. Video by Nina ©TheBlissfulInkblot

The Artist’s Way: An Awakening, Recovery, Rediscovery and Reinventing of the Inner Artist

 

Book Photo Credit to Amazon.
Graphic Design by Nina

    Creativity is the ability to make beautiful art as an expression of the self and our own perception of the world. Art comes in an array of forms like painting, coloring, drawing, pottery, sculpture, mixed media illustrations, movies, music, photography, theater, fashion, embroidery, crochet, graphic design, clay, poetry, short stories, novels, essays, singing and dancing. All these art forms have various genres too. The vast forms of art surely comes from the most powerful and brilliant artist – God. As created in the image and likeness of God, we are indeed His masterpieces. We share in the power of God to create, we are inherently artists by nature. As artists we are called to create beauty depth and wonder in this world. According to the Cognitive Development Theory of Jean Piaget, we have an innate need for beauty and brilliance in order to thrive. People form knowledge by meeting their cognitive needs and aesthetic needs. We learn and adapt in life through meeting our cognitive needs. We appreciate the complexity of life and feel at peace when we fulfill our aesthetic needs. Both these needs are nourished through art. It is in being creative that we are able to make sense of the world, process our thoughts and feelings, express and cope in life in an adaptive manner. Even research confirmed that art lights up the mind. Creating art calms the heart and clears the mind.

When art makes the brain glow 
Photo Credit to Canva. Graphic Design by Nina

    Creativity is essential to well-being. It is high time that we embrace being an artist in our own right. What defines an artist though? An artist is a person who enjoys creating any form of art in any chosen genre. Someone who draws, paints, colors, sculpts, sews, crochets, embroiders, molds clay, takes photographs, writes, designs, acts, films movies, sings and dance for fun, passion or by profession. If anyone would ask me if I am an artist, I definitely would say of course, yes. I am an artist. I am a creative writer. How about you? Have you ever considered yourself to be an artist at some point in your childhood or some time in your life? Did growing up dampened and diminished your creativity? If yes, I assure you that you are not alone. Life happened and I kind of lost my creativity too. We all go through that but what we do about this is all that matters. Time to get your spark back in life through embracing the artist that you are. Guess what? I have just the book for you to awaken, recover, rediscover and reinvent your artist self. Get ready for it. I highly recommend that you go on a creative journey by reading and doing the tasks in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

    Story time how I came across this book, I sat in the computer staring at the blank page, the cursor blinking at me. For what seemed like an hour, the cursor incessantly blinked waiting for me to type something, anything. Three more minutes passed and still nothing. 

    How many times have I found myself like this? Sigh. I used to write like the words are continuously flowing freely. Are those days really gone? Is my writing life, over? I remembered how blissful and fulfilling it was to just write – until word count, page count and life happened all at once. I closed the Word document and went on a different platform to rant to my fellow writers. “Writer’s block is like constipation.” Excuse the gross analogy but it is true. I have watched videos about increasing word count and joined writing communities but I still have not figured out how to overcome my writer’s block. I am on the verge of just dropping my pen for good. One fateful night a fellow writer asked if anyone would like to join her to read and do the tasks in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Curious for some tea, I was the first to jump in. Later on, more fellow creatives joined in too. The first part unravels how an artist becomes blocked, identifies the causes and presented tasks for unblocking the inner artist. At first, I do not see much the sense of affirmation, morning pages and artist dates. Plot twist! These and the other tasks were healing my heart and mind. By Chapter 5, my creativity is awakened little by little. I enjoyed Chapter 3 the most. I love the concept of Synchronicity. Those who knew about Synchronicity says that Synchronicities have always been around us, we just need to be attuned to it. Synchronicities are just life changing for me. I felt like looking forward to good things, guidance and a sense of being supported by God every day. It gave me a feeling of connection with God - the highest creative force. There were small and gradual yet significant changes in me as we went along the tasks. It felt like I am finding my artist self again and by the time I have recovered my creativity, I am ready to nurture, rediscover and reinvent my artist self. 

The Inner Artist lives! Yay! Cat Photo credit to Moderncat.com

    I love that The Artist Way was written with clarity. The tasks were enjoyable and done at our own phase. It was an overall effective creative journey for me. Have you read The Artist Way yet? If you haven't, why? This is your sign to find your inner artist. Get The Artist Way by Julia Cameron now and start your creative adventure.   

 Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed reading my blog, please like, comment, follow and share. All Rights Reserved. Book Image credit to Amazon. Background Photo credit to Canva. Cat Photos Credit to Pinterest, Wallpapers.com and Moderncat.com. Graphic Design and Cat Meme by Nina ©TheBlissfulInkblot