Reviews
On the Wings of Inspiration calls to mind Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way in the way it prompts inner growth and self-reflection through creativity with inspiring images, poetry, prose, and exercises. It is an innovative, spiritually oriented, self-help book that offers combined techniques, from Jungian and cognitive therapies to meditation and creative play.
Singer and actress Cheryl Metrick was meditating regularly when the spontaneous symbolic images and poetry included in the book “just fell out of my head.” Friend, therapist, and fellow singer, Jeree Wade, found Metrick’s images powerful in her own work, and the two collaborated on this book.
Metrick opens each chapter with an image and poem. She follows these with an autobiographical meditation that reflects on both and concludes with an affirmation. Wade then finishes each chapter with her own inspirational narrative on Metrick’s images and words and offers creative exercises, from asking readers to contemplate key questions on that chapter’s theme to offering drawing and visualization exercises. The authors’ voices dynamically cover broad universal themes, including the power of love, passion, and the act of letting go. Each chapter can stand alone, allowing readers to pace the journey as they like.
On the Wings of Inspiration is a stimulating read. Its images and poetry are unique, evocative, and beautiful, and its narratives and exercises are cathartic, often fun, and effective.
Also available in hardcover.
Author’s Current Residence
Lloyd Harbor, New York
Clarion Review
On the Wings of Inspiration: Exploring Our Inner Life through Interpretive Symbols
Cheryl Metrick and Jeree Wade, MA
Xlibris 978-1-4836-7192-5
(Reviewed: January 2014)
The balance between two authors brings accessibility to this guide to creativity and spiritual growth.
This inspirational workbook provides a model for using creative expression as a tool for personal and spiritual growth. The authors of On the Wings of Inspiration succeed in offering a readable and congenial template for self-exploration through creativity.
The authors balance each other well. Cheryl Metrick’s intuitive drawings, poems, personal essays, and affirmations show how a sensitive person can tap into her own world of symbols and use them to enhance self-understanding. Jeree Wade’s contribution to the book extends the process from the personal to the universal through her understanding of Jungian psychology and its teachings on the power and universality of symbols, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. Her thoughtful commentaries, contemplative questions, and workbook exercises help the reader see how dreams and fantasies partake in a universal human symbology that spans time and cultures to link the conscious and unconscious realms.
Metrick’s drawings are expressive and colorful; that they are not those of a trained artist may serve to encourage others without formal art education to take up the pencil or brush and explore intuitive drawing. The written entries that follow are highly personal, engaging, and conversational and give non-drawing readers the option of a verbal template for self-exploration.
Wade’s commentaries, contemplative questions, and workbook-type exercises are sensitive and well thought out; they are intended to lead readers to a deeper awareness of their own dreams and fantasies and understand how they connect to those of other minds throughout history.
Overall, the deep respect and admiration between the two authors brings an element of sweetness and light to their collaboration; their book will provide a comforting and encouraging space for readers who may be in crisis or are embarking on their first explorations into their inner world and seeking wise companionship for the journey.
Kristine Morris
