Search

I offer an autoethnographic inquiry into the process of finding one's way out of the maze of mental illness; it is an examination of how in the course of creating music to express my suffering from bipolar disorder, 1 found a poetic and musical expression for my soul. Making music gradually moved my focus away from illness toward imagination and creativity and brought about a major shift in my positioning in terms of my identity, helping me to construct the selfhood of an artist rather than that of an ill person. This transformation is explored in the context of India's music and spiritual tradition and the Western framework of resource-oriented music therapy, an approach that prioritizes participant empowerment and uses music for self-care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]