The image of the painting is “meeting”. In the creative-writing process I recalled and wrote about a patient I had recently treated in my work as an acupuncturist. I was treating the patient for a post-viral syndrome. During the treatment the patient had been talking about her “dream” to change careers but she believed that by doing so, she would be letting her parents down. After the treatment I (uncharacteristically) took a few seconds to follow my intuition and say something without reallly knowing why.

I said, “You’re really close to your parents, aren’t you?” The patient just broke down in tears, in an (also!) uncharacteristic display of emotion. Although upset, I felt this was an unusually authentic experience for both me and the patient, and that it was an important part of her healing process. In fact from that session on, the patient rapidly went from strength the strength and was able to return to work after three months abscence and went on to take steps to fulfill her dream.

I learned from this experience that connecting with the patient on an authentic level as a person rather than a patient can be profound and moving. In the drawing I try to convey the sense of “meeting” the patient in this way by having the face in the place of the heart, to show that this is a meeting of two people at a deep, maybe subconcious level. The clock shows no time, indicating that in this space there is in fact no time. I left the characters without faces to emphasise the fact that the outer (social, professional, role-playing) dimensions of the individuals fall away in this interaction and that this is a meeting of hearts and intentions.

The writing and drawing has been a mixed experience for me. I have mostly really enjoyed it, because it reminded me of the interaction which was a wonderful and inspiring experience. I also felt slightly awkward trying to express how I feel went on in that session in words, and frustrated by my lack of ability to convey the spirit of that meeting in my image.