After years of living life covered up in alcohol (酒精), my belief systems were broken into pieces — I no longer cared, I no longer felt alive. During my own journey to quit drinking, I first learned about the connection between art and recovery, while witnessing others on the same path.
While art cannot directly bring someone into recovery, it can certainly help established bonds and fuel the passion for life. Last year at the annual conference for Women For Sobriety (清醒), various group painting events were arranged, where I learned how to experience fun without alcohol. I truly believe magic happens when I take pen, color, or form. From this simple, yet poetic combination, there can be a variety of human responses. Viewers can be fascinated, drawn into the mind or spirit of the artist. Thus, emotion is felt and inner voice heard.
Art encourages self-expression, which is often limited during active addiction Finding healthy new ways to express emotions and feelings is an important part of recovery. Art is an outlet for what cannot be spoken. Children, for example, can draw more about what they feel since they do not have the words to describe what they are feeling. The same is true for people in recovery.
Better still, people who create can become more skilled in other aspects of life from relationships to managing stress. Reconnecting to life through art fuels insight, confidence and helps heal. When one is creating, the mind cannot focus on pain or darkness, but instead the focus has the opportunity to change to the absolute present. Imagine a woman, who decides to stop drinking, sitting at the pottery (陶器) wheel, her mind consumed by the feel of the cold clay while the thick water runs over her cupped bands. Gently, she forms the wet earth into a vase, leaving her mark. On the outside, it can appear as though the woman is simply learning a new skill. On the inside, though, her mind is free from being trapped in negative emotions and concentrates on connecting to the now, to the turning wheel, releasing (释放) unending beauty from within.
12. What does “magic” underlined in para.2 refer to?
A.The energy generated from the on-site painting. |
B.The instant recovery from her alcohol addiction. |
C.The emotional tics built between her and viewers. |
D.The dramatic combination of painting and poems. |
13. Why did the author mention children in Paragraph 3?
A.To show art can partly fill the emotional gap. |
B.To emphasize the power of speech is too limited. |
C.To indicate addicts actually are similar to children. |
D.To prove emotions can be conveyed by means of art. |
14. How can the woman making pottery relieve her pain?
A.By changing focus. | B.By expressing herself. |
C.By connecting to others. | D.By releasing beauty. |
15. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the text?
A.To tell her story of breaking with alcohol addiction. |
B.To show how creativity helps recover from addiction. |
C.To encourage people to set aside time for painting. |
D.To argue for the concept of living without alcohol. |