Spencer Buchi

       I have made choices in life that at first were a response to trauma and later became deeply ingrained habits. The consequence of some of these choices is a strengthening of beliefs and thought patterns that could be defined as thinking errors and delusions. At first I was not able to discern that what I was thinking was not in line with what was considered real. I have become more aware though through reading the Bible and also through making an effort to follow the teachings of Jesus.     I think that the Bible, taken as a whole, tells a story of the human experience, and of true reality. I think the Bible uses the language of myth, allegory, poetry, metaphors, and sometimes is literal and historical to illustrate to the reader the nature of reality and how to navigate it. I read the Bible for the first time starting in 2019 and have continued to read it over and over since then. Slowly, over time, it is shaping my perception of the world that is mo...

  I strive to live in a way that honors my parents, lets my light shine, maximizes my gifts in the service of others, and helps poor people, which are all aspects of how I follow Jesus. I have decided that my aim in life is a PhD in Art Therapy because having that goal orients me in the right way. With that goal, I am concerned with maximizing my gifts in the service of others. With that goal, I am concerned with making a contribution and helping out people in need. I also see that goal as incentivizing for me because I desire to do something interesting, creative, challenging, and rewarding with the time I have left. A PhD in Art Therapy meets those criteria, and because I am willing to strive for it, in the process I have already been willing and will continue to be willing to help others along the way. I feel like God has told me in my heart - here is how you honor your parents, let your light shine, help others, and maximize your gifts. So, I do feel like God has made an agreem...

  Life before repentance was like riding a beast and directing the beast into darkness. Repentance is like seeing the light, turning around, and acknowledging the difference. The problem remains though that the beast I was riding is still in its old patterns and thoughts and continues on habitually and routinely while I face the truth and the light and point the beast towards it. After repentance comes the challenge of turning the beast, the human animal, all the way around so that my behavior and habits match my will and my desires. I wanted this to appear child like because a child like attitude is needed in order to say that what I have been trying to do isn't working and I need Heavenly Father to take over. I need to be like a child to repent and admit that I need correction, guidance, and discipline from a loving and kind Father. I can practice being like a child in how I submit to guidance and correction, which is for my own good, and the result will be something far better t...

The Bible illustrates four kinds of love, the greatest of which is charity. To use the will in accordance with charity is to provide a kind of light and nourishment to another human. Like a flower, a human, under the right conditions, can bloom and blossom. God's intention for human life is an abundance of goodness and God gives generously to all and as a follower of Jesus I want to be able to extend that generous light and attention to others so that when they do bloom they can be the truest expression of themselves that God intended them to be, which is always good. Putting others before myself does not come naturally for me. I consider myself to be a selfish person and thinking and doing for others is hard, and I sometimes feel resentment about doing it. I feel like I have to be incentivized by God in order to even try to learn to love others the way He loves me. It's a practice, one which I choose to do because I do believe that there is only one true way for me to live, an...

  In 2019, I was searching for my higher power and I experienced a deep shift inside of me that helped me to recognize that Jesus is God. I came to believe that Jesus is alive and I encountered that living personality and it has changed the course of my life. Around this same time I experienced a shift in my perception of myself and I took a long look in the mirror - seeing the fool I am. My encounter with Jesus was like meeting someone steady, calm, and his love and transformative presence swept through my heart, my mind, my foolishness like a fire burning through an old house. I had been bringing my gift to the table without submitting it to God. With Jesus I can now begin to imagine the true potential that my life and gifts can have—to be of service in the lives of others.  I left this unfinished in places so that it can feel unresolved. I want to convey brief moments of significant psychological impact that felt intense and then faded into a memory over time. That memory i...

     I am interested in using surrealist techniques to develop deep and personal expressions and embedding the meaning of those expressions into abstraction. I started by writing the phrase “self-care” with my non-dominant hand as a way to prime my mind into thinking about what self-care means. I then created an automatic drawing with my non-dominant hand, which I used as a reference point for a sketch. I have abstracted that sketch to use in both drawings.        The exploration of self-care has caused some introspection on what I consider self-care to mean for myself. I identify setting boundaries with others and having alone time to recharge as ways I can practice self-care. I have also recognized that reaching out and trying to connect with others is important in my self-care practice.       I used mark making that invokes feelings of calmness and quietness in my mind. The repetition of patterns feels like a meditative practice for m...