Invitation
By following our impulses we eventually learn about who we are and where we are headed in life. I was a little surprised when writing became a significant part of my professional life. In this portion of this website I extend an invitation to my written work.
Freeing the Creative Spirit was published in 1992. It grew out of a class I taught to graduate students for thirteen years at Holy Names College in Oakland, California. If you engage with it, you will see the details of experience on every page. (One reader told me that when she came to the fingerpainting exercise and the instructions suggested putting masking tape on the tape recorder buttons, she knew I had been there.) It is intended to support personal creativity, and the process of self-discovery. My personal creative process became my teaching process, so it encourages integration. If you read it, don’t miss the bibliography, it’s great for continuing inspiration.
I’ve been a (non-professional) dancer all my life, but I didn’t imagine it becoming the inspiration for the giant leap into writing a novel. It’s one of those challenges one never knows is possible until the commitment of it takes over your life. Tango Lessons grew out of my love affair with Argentine Tango and with the embrace of Buenos Aires. There, outside of dancing, I had the honor to walk with the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, women who captured world attention in the painful process of finding their loved ones in the 1990’s. A fascist government had taken over their country and hundreds of people “disappeared”, taken by death squads, tortured, buried in unmarked graves, or thrown into the Atlantic (some before their death). So, Tango Lessons is about a woman who goes to study tango, while looking for a lost relative. It is an artful journey, and eventually a frightening and suspenseful one when it’s out of control.
Tango Lessons
Raquel Carval arrives alone in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the charismatic city of her parents’ birth, with two deeply committed intentions. The tango that once belonged to her grandparents has now become her own, and she intends to immerse herself in the dance, the practice, and the culture. Her second intention is rooted in a promise to her dying godmother: she will investigate the whereabouts of her Uncle Mateo, who disappeared sixty years ago, presumed to have died in the Spanish Civil War until Raquel’s recent discovery of secret letters shows him to have lived in Buenos Aires at least until the 1970’s, era of Argentina’s Dirty War. At the unorthodox Academia del Tango, El Alef, Raquel learns technique and about tango as a spiritual practice and an ethical pathway to world peace. Newly-divorced, she opens her heart to the dance, and to the charms of two seductive partners: The mysterious Nico Durman who performs in tango cafes and theaters, and Luis Viviani, a handsome architect who performs exclusively with La Maestra, head of the Academia. The investigation of Mateo becomes woven into the tango world, and evidence of Mateo’s presence in the city emerges. Raquel is shocked to learn that the old man appears to have been aligned with the Argentine military who perpetrated heinous crimes on innocent citizens. Incredibly, it is Mateo who still haunts the nightmares of La Maestra, herself. Overcome with shame, Raquel agrees to be the bait in an attempt to find the old man and bring him to justice. When the scheme goes awry, she is caught in a nightmare of her own.
Tango Lessons is available for purchase at Amazon.com.
Freeing the Creative Spirit
A new way of seeing, and living vibrantly in the world.
Published in 1992, this book is intended as a life long companion. It is a pertinent today as the day it was published.
Adriana Diaz honors the inherently creative nature of the human spirit in this practical, stimulating, and celebratory guide for artists and nonartists alike. Freeing the Creative Spirit melds art and spirituality, treating painting and drawing as playful yet powerful tools for connecting with the self, the world, and the divine. Diaz, a teacher who has seen her Creative Meditation methods change lives, heals psyches, and enrich relationships, offers both technical and emotional support. Her step-by-step program breaks through "art fear," self-consciousness, and self-doubt by replacing the reader's inner critic with a supportive advocate, encouraging play and facilitating self-discovery and self-acceptance. In this interactive workbook, Diaz guides us through painting, drawing, and mixed-media exercises; multicultural ceremonies; and periods of meditation, reflection, and ritual. Nurturing, challenging, and inspiring, Diaz's techniques show us that though we may not see our art in galleries or museums, we can know the experience of creation, as a powerful source of healing, change, and growth for ourselves and the for the world around us.
Freeing the Creative Spirit: Drawing on the Power of Art to Tap the Magic and Wisdom Within is available for purchase at Amazon.com.
Anthologies
Excerpt from the essay “Brush With God, Creativity as Practice and Prayer”
“Life is an amazing, suspenseful phenomenon in which we are both the master and the work. Our joys, sorrows, defeats, and accomplishments ultimately hinge on our ability to relate to mystery. At times we must have the courage to yield control. At other times life demands that we take action, whether we want to or not. . .When Picasso learned from the study of African masks that art was the mediator between human terrors and the unknown forces of the universe, he recognized, as we all must, that creativity is our innate and sacred gift, the ultimate prayer.”
The Soul of Creativity; New World Library (1999)
Editor: Tona Pearce Myers
Excerpt from the essay “Tantric Tango”
“After some years of study . . .tango practice opens a door to a completely unexpected experience: the spiritually ecstatic state. What begins as a dance becomes The Dance. Tango becomes a study of the seven chakras from the inside out, all pulsating with Divine energy. It teaches all there is to know about Yin and Yang. It is, as in Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, the full metaphor: the river, the boat, and the boatman.”
Sacred Voices, Essential Women’s Wisdom Through the Ages; Harper San Francisco (2002)
Editor: Mary Ford-Grabowsky
