Art = Processing your life

There is no doubt that the role of the artist is one of an observer, or an interpreter. An artist can help make sense of the world. An artist can use their heart and their medium to explain our experience of the world. Have you ever gone through a circumstance in your life that left you feeling all the feelings, and maybe some that you cannot even name? As we experience grief and loss, we need some way to process that pain. As we experience even the joys of life, it’s a gift to take time to bring awareness to it. Human beings need a healthy way to process their emotions.

When I lost my first husband to melanoma, I needed a way to process that loss. I turned to journaling a lot, processing my fear, lamenting my future, and that of my children, and it led me on a pathway towards hope. I spoke to God in my journal, in a real and transparent way, and everything began to lift. The courage to paint came after the words, and my drop cloths became faithful garments that cleansed me from the ache of loss. Painting was a tool to carve a new path ahead, and to begin to see a bright future again. Any time I splashed color on a canvas, or sorted out a melody on my guitar, I was still declaring that life is worth living, and that God is good.

Every day, psychologists and brain scientists are coming out with new data that suggests we need to find healthy ways to process our emotions. Not to suppress or ignore, but process! “Art is an interpretation of life. At its essence, reduced to its most simple expression, art is our translation of all human experience.” (The Artisan Soul)

May I suggest to you that words on a page, color on a canvas, listening to music, or even coloring the lines in on a coloring book can help you process your emotions. It’s an amazing first step to take towards your well-being. In my next post I want to share with you some prompts that you can use to process your emotions.