Last week, the second episode of The Artfelt Brush was released. In it, I discussed several ways that creating can be used as a tool for healing and working through trauma. While the episode was brief, it did offered insight into how those strategies can be applied to the healing journey. One aspect that I did not discuss in the episode, was why healing is so important to me.
I wholeheartedly believe that we have a responsibility, to ourselves as well as those around us, to heal. Unhealed wounds do not just affect our daily lives; they ripple outward, impacting those closest to us. Just like happiness and joy, pain and anger spread and amplify. Often times without meaning to, we bring others down with us, which is profoundly unfair to those we love.
Taking a hard look in the mirror and gaining a clear picture of ourselves is essential to the healing process. True healing cannot be achieved without that clarity. We need to be honest with ourselves-honest about our feelings, honest about our roll in a situation, and honest about how our emotions and actions have affected others. Without that level of self-awareness, moving forward in a constructive direction seems impossible.
At this stage, our egos are holding us immobile. Whether it is fear of confronting ourselves or an inflated sense of self, something is blocking our growth. That does not mean we are incapable of evolving; it simply means professional guidance is needed. A skilled therapist will be able to help identify where we are struggling and provide techniques for breaking down those walls and releasing suppressed emotions.
In last week’s episode, I touched on suppressed emotions. While short-term this approach might provide comfort, in the long-term it makes those big feelings even harder to reconcile in the future. Over time, the pressure builds, so when those unresolved feelings finally surface, they are more intense, explosive, and damaging than if they had been resolved earlier.
And, in truth, everything eventually surfaces. Like a lie, true feelings and emotions find a way of revealing themselves-and, like a lie, they often cause pain and heartache to those closest to us. Which brings me back to my original point: we have a responsibly, not only to ourselves, but also to those that we love and cherish, to heal.
The act of healing will provide light and positivity in our lives. That light, in turn, spreads and amplifies, creating a ripple of goodness that touches everyone around us.
Time alone doesn’t heal wounds; the effort to heal does. ~Cyrille Njikeng
The Artfelt Brush 