The Art of Aliveness: A Creative Return to What Matters Most, by Flora Bowley
Hierophant Publishing, 1950253104, 224 pages, March 2021

How often do we really pause to think about what truly makes us feel alive? Have you ever thought there could be ways to feel more inspiration, creativity, and joie de vivre? Well that’s exactly what Flora Bowley offers in her book The Art of Aliveness: A Creative Return to What Matters Most. This spectacular process-oriented book is a guide to rediscovering one’s zest for life.

Flora Bowley is a woman of many talents: artist, healer, yoga instructor, and author (her previous books include Brave Intuitive Painting and Creative Revolution). These different pursuits lend to her creative lifestyle, which she has learned to navigate intuitively. According to her website, her aim is to create “a new holistic movement in the intuitive art world.”¹ She purses this passion by leading in-person workshops and online painting courses, along with pursuing the other avenues her creativity inspires her to follow.

“Aliveness means reaching into the vast depths of our full human experience, not shying away from what we find there, and being brave enough to say, “I can be with what is, and I can choose again. I can create beauty out of sorrow and find meaning in the madness. I can be the alchemist of my own life no matter what cards I’ve been dealt.””²

I absolutely loved the book and had many “aha” moments reading it. First of all, Bowley is so honest about her journey. The ups and downs, she is willing to share her story with authenticity. This aspect made me greatly respect her, because it’s certainly not easy to lay it all out for others to know about. Her life is pretty epic though, and simply reading it brought me so much motivation to take new risks and follow my intuition more often.

Some of the really neat things Bowley has done in her life discussed in the book are volunteering in New Orleans after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, attending Burning Man and awakening to new parts of herself, and even changing her name legally to reflect this emerging identity. How badass are all these things? She reminded me that it’s okay to live outside the box and do things that I’m feeling called to do without having to justify them to other people or be worried about what they will think.

This honesty in Bowley’s writing created a connection with her that made me feel like I could trust her and she wasn’t trying to push anything on me. This whole book is an invitation to open up to the richness of life. She even writes about how in her journey of teaching intuitive painting, she realized the difference between sharing a creative philosophy and teaching a creative lifestyle. While her creative philosophy absolutely can be seen woven into all areas of her life, this book intended to help the reader develop their own creative lifestyle.

All the chapters in the book are a life lesson about living creatively. At the start of the chapter, Bowley includes anecdotes from her own life. Many of these describe how she came to the wisdom that she’s sharing. Then at the end of the chapters, there is a section called “Try This On” where Bowley offers a practice for the reader to do. Most were easy to incorporate into life, such as “The next time you feel a strong emotion, or if you’re feeling one now, notice if you are pushing it down or allowing it to run the show.”³ These practices helped me be more aware of my intuition, feelings, and creative process.

Furthermore, Bowley’s visual description of elements of painting became a symbolic imagery for me to envision when reading. The abstract concept of adding contrast to life came alive on canvas as she described popping yellow paint burst from a deeper blue. Never having painted much, this perspective opened new doors to perception for me, which made me actually want to try my hand at putting the brush to canvas. (Okay, maybe I’ll start with finger paints for now, but it’s still invigorating!)

“Contrasts brings together two or more strikingly different things, creating a dynamic relationship in juxtaposition or close association. In other words, contrast happens when two very different worlds collide, kiss, or simply exist side by side. I hunt for opportunities to create contrast because I know that tension between elements creates energy, a spark, nuance.”⁴

She also has so many suggestions from her workshops that I really thought were engaging in helping creators acknowledge feelings in a new way. For instance, one thing she’s done with participants is having them give away their half finished painting. Some were sentimental about it, others were happy to be relieved of it, but either way it is an exercise in letting go. From there, the painters were supposed to build on what the other had started. This made me start thinking more about my attachment to things and how I could also include more collaboration.

Reading Bowley’s story made me start thinking about my life as a big canvas, filled with colors and shapes, rather than my normal way of seeing it filled with people, activities, and commitments. Thinking about each of these elements in my life through an artistic perspective got me wondering what the current canvas of my life looked like and how I might bright out something new in what I was working with.

Overall, The Art of Aliveness is filled with wisdom and personal insight in which Bowley draws on her creative process to offer insight on how to reconnect with the inherent beauty in life. I feel like anyone looking to reawaken their creative spirit would benefit from reading this book. As already mentioned, simply hearing her personal story was an inspiration to follow my dreams. Her painting expertise is an added bonus that is sure to motivate other creators to make meaning of their life’s journey through artistry.