From Shredded Pages to Shaped Lives

My Paper Art Journey (2012 → 2018 → Now)

There’s something sacred about paper.

It holds stories.
It carries truth.
It absorbs ink, tears, fingerprints, coffee stains… and sometimes, transformation.

In 2012, I started creating art from discarded books and recycled paper. I wasn’t just folding pages—I was reclaiming something. Taking what had been overlooked, cast aside, or forgotten… and giving it new form.

Back then, I didn’t fully realize how much my art mirrored the deeper work I was doing as a counselor and life coach.

But looking back now?

It makes perfect sense.

2012: Art as Redemption

My early work was mostly folded books and paper collage. I loved the paradox of it:

• A book destroyed… becoming beautiful

• Old pages… reshaped into dimension

• Forgotten stories… reborn

It was artcycle before I even knew that word fit.

People resonated with it. In fact, I was honored to be named Artist of the Year in 2013.

But the deeper resonance wasn’t about recognition.

It was about redemption.

Because what I was doing with paper…
I was also doing with people.

2018: The Shift Away

Around 2018, life shifted.

My focus moved more fully into counseling and coaching through From Good to Great. I leaned deeper into helping busy professionals end self-sabotage and integrate mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being.

Art went quiet for a while.

Not gone.
Just dormant.

And here’s what I’ve learned in my own growth journey:

Sometimes when something goes silent, it’s not dead.
It’s composting.

Just like shredded paper turning back into pulp.

2026: Back to the Pulp (Literally)

Now I’m back.

But not in the same way.

I’m extruding colored paper pulp onto drying screens.
I’m working with stiffer paper clay to form pots.
I’m moving from folding the old… to forming the new.

This stage feels different.

More embodied.
More tactile.
More like shaping raw material instead of rearranging finished pages.

And if I’m honest?

That’s exactly the kind of work I do with my clients now.

Paper, Pulp, and Personal Growth

Here’s the metaphor I can’t ignore:

When paper is shredded and soaked, it doesn’t resist.
It softens.

It becomes workable.
Flexible.
Formable.

And when people come to me—whether for counseling or life coaching—it’s often after life has “shredded” something.

A career shift.
A relationship loss.
A relapse.
Burnout.
Self-sabotage patterns they can’t seem to break.

And the instinct is usually:

“I’m ruined.”

But what if you’re not ruined?

What if you’re pulp?

What if you’re finally soft enough to be reshaped?

As a counselor for over 25 years and a certified life coach, I’ve seen this again and again:
Transformation doesn’t start with fixing.
It starts with softening.

That’s the core of my work at From Good to Great Coaching, Counseling, and Consulting.

We don’t shame the shredded parts.
We don’t pretend the tears didn’t happen.

We integrate them.

We help the dissociated pieces come into internal cooperation.
We move from internal sabotage to internal consensus.
We go from “Why am I like this?” to “Oh… this makes sense.”

And from there?

We shape something new.

Why I’m Sharing This Now

Because my art page — https://www.facebook.com/ArtcycleArtForSale/ — isn’t separate from my counseling work.

It’s an extension of it.

The same hands that guide someone through ending self-sabotage…
are the hands pressing pulp into screens.

The same heart that helps a client understand, accept, love, and forgive parts of themselves…
is the heart forming paper clay into vessels.

It’s all integration.

Mental.
Spiritual.
Emotional.
Physical.

Art isn’t a side hobby for me.

It’s embodiment.

If You’ve Been Feeling “Shredded”

Let me say this clearly:

You are not trash.
You are raw material.

And raw material is powerful.

Whether through art…
or counseling…
or coaching…

The work is the same:

• Understand what happened

• Accept what is

• Love what’s still here

• Forgive what you didn’t know then

And shape forward from there.

You’re not behind.
You’re not broken.

You might just be in the pulp stage.

And that’s where new vessels are born.

— Casey

PS: Ready to Shape What’s Next?

If you’ve been feeling shredded, stuck, or stretched thin… maybe this is your pulp stage.

You don’t have to figure it out alone.

Let’s shape something stronger—together.

👉 Start here by completing this short questionnaire (it even includes the scheduler):
https://forms.gle/uMudTfmnNKE2demD6

Many people tell me just filling this out helps them organize their thoughts and see how simple this process can be.

You’re not behind.
You’re becoming.