Moving Forward and Pushing through the waters.
See, Look, Grow,Swim and blow a few bubbles too.
I've been doing a lot of stretching lately, reaching out, reflecting, and visualizing. Thinking about how to make things happen in my life that I am swimming towards. It's hard work but good work.
I have been diving into the WHY and HOW art has helped me heal - not only from Cancer but also about how art continues to help me stay sane, support me, and clarify the world around me. Sickness and now health - art has helped me! After I finished the project of The Cancer Courage Card Deck, I reflected on how that process had helped me: The art took me through the fear, the uncertainty, and the isolation, and as I created the deck the next year, I received a better understanding of the path, a realization of the education I had received not only about Cancer but about life itself, and the importance of sharing that knowledge. I had no idea of all that during my illness (Cancer Stage 3B). I only knew that I enjoyed creating the art; it was a meditation, an experience, a communication, and the most authentic art I had ever made. It was a way to share with family and loved ones. It was much less scary than words alone would have been. (I suspect for much less difficult for receivers as well). It also meant I didn't have to say the words and have the discussions if I didn't want to. People saw and felt what Cancer was like for me. Good? Bad? Indifferent? I will never know most of the reactions, but I know it was a much more engaging, informative, and creative way of sharing information and health states.
I noticed most of the art, and even the words I sent out with the images, were positive, calm, and beautiful colors. I didn't think about what that meant other than I knew a positive attitude was critical. Now I understand it's about the process of creation, and although I love the pieces of art I created from those visualizations and situations, that final image, the "painting" so to speak, was not the healing part: IT IS THE PROCESS THAT HEALS. Drawing releases neurons in your brain. There are now research papers and projects about the cognitive effects of making art. Art itself doesn't replace traditional medicine. But art can heal.
ART can help you find relief, strength, and new communication paths. ART can help you refocus and reduce pain because you are so engaged in a beautiful activity. You can put your anxiety over to the side-delve into your safe, cozy place/space of imagination, views, hopes, and solutions. When you create, you take your brain, mind, and maybe even your soul out for a fresh air walk!
"Art can harness the healing power within each of us and help bring us into the community... When in front of an artwork, we are connected to the artist and to others who have experienced it. And connection to ourselves and others, is at the core of art and healing. Healing isn't a destination with a fixed timeline or endpoint but rather a path—or many paths. Just like each visit with a favorite work of art is a new experience with new insights, healing is a journey with possibilities stretching out in all directions." - MoMA - The Healing Power of Art - Jackie Armstrong, Sept 17,2021
