Healing Creatively

I’ve always been a creative person. When I was a kid I loved to draw. I remember my Nana teaching me how to draw at our small kitchen table. She loved drawing houses with white picket fences and red rosebushes. The comforting fantasy of a life she never quite got to live out. But she taught me how to draw curly hair and roses because it was what made her happy. She proudly hung her drawings around her home. She was actually quite good although she never did it professionally, she did it for herself, and for her grandkids. That was her style. Now 30+ years later I think I’ve finally figured out my own style.

There was a time where I was afraid to express myself artistically. I never felt I was “good enough”. So I made it for myself, like my Nana taught me. And yet, lately I’ve been wanting to share it to help myself and others heal. In my healing from trauma I’ve come to learn that art is integral.

It’s helped me see myself in a different light. Not just as a survivor, or therapist, or mother, but as an artist. I believe all people are creative and all people are artists. The art and style of living takes different forms and those forms are never stagnant. You can try anything that sparks your curiosity or your activism. Take a look at the signs of the Hands Off protests or from the BLM protests. Art made with purpose. Art as an act of resistance. So too is the art of a trauma survivor an act of healing, rebellion, rage, sadness, and courage. And an act of self-love, of self-determinism, of self-validation.

I keep my Nana’s spirit alive by hanging my art and my daughter’s art in our home, along with some of her old paintings. Generational trauma expressed in generations of art. I pay respect to her by sharing art and creativity in my work with clients. We heal collectively. We heal creatively.

This is my first blog post. It is an act of creation and stands testament to my belief that we can just try to be creative in the face of fears that we may not be good. I hope to write more soon.

In Solidarity,

Alicia

*cover photo: a painting by my Nana