March/April 2002 Spirituality
Using Intuitive Collage to Tell the Story of Your Life

by Andy Couturier

Memory is a peculiar thing. Vague recollections get smudged together with the emotions that surround them. Whole years get lost, while a single clanging incident plays itself over and over again in our brains. The act of writing can connect us to our memories, connect memories to each other, and help us unearth the obscured meanings that our experiences hold for us just below the level of consciousness. On a very basic level, writing is a way to communicate with yourself.

Writing is so powerful, and can so often bring us pleasure, comfort or even transcendence; it seems odd that we are taught to think of it as an arduous, miserable chore. Perhaps we are holding on to outdated rules and preconceptions about why we write in the first place, and what is the "proper" way to express ourselves. When we write to explore, discover and understand our own history, we need to let go of the internalized expectations of others. Although the words and ideas formed may eventually find their way into print, writing for self discovery will only be crippled by the constant interruption of the evaluative mind.

By letting go of a preordained structure and instead inviting radical breaks (or ruptures) between one voice or style and another, you not only render the truth of your own experience more authentically, you are often able to move into an altered phase of consciousness, almost a trance state, in which the intuition takes hold and the subconscious becomes alive and supple. Once the deep mind is activated and you are roaming the landscape of the past, many previously opaque experiences become accessible, and, simultaneously, your language becomes potentized and more truly reflective of your feelings.

To tell the truth of a story--or the many truths--we need to be open to the prismatic nature of reality. A method for doing this is to use intuitive collage to allow the story to shape itself. For example, try starting right in the middle of the story, or simply listing impressions. Or you can collage together disparate styles such as a tone poem and a journalistic article ("Who, what, when, where, why"); an impassioned exhortation smack up against a surrealistic dream text; a speculative internal dialog intertwined with a luscious, sensual description.

Throughout the process, know that your writing gets better as a direct result of how much you deepen your perception: perception of the outer world as well as and the inner world that responds to it. Then, when we are then able to bring those powers of perception to the words on the page themselves, we give to others the generosity we have been showing to ourselves.

So when you set off to write your story--whether it be a coming of age, the death of a loved one, or even the tale of a mountain bus ride in a far off nation--try to let your desires and hunches guide you from word to word, from memory to understanding, from speculation to epiphany. This writing is for you. Let each element lead naturally into the next and let this mosaic of the mind lead you on a path of honesty about your own life and your experience inside of it. You may surprise yourself.

Andy Couturier is the founder of The Opening, a center for writing using "The Perception Approach." Courses offered include Write Your Own Healing, Not Far From Home, and Scrimshaw: A Workshop in Stylistics. Courses are held at the Common Ground Wellness Center, and some have childcare provided for busy parents with small kids. Contact the opening at 503-282-2639 or email andy@theopening.org.