By Sophie Balisky
“How are you doing?”
“What is it like?”
“What happened?”
“What are you feeling right now?”
Words melt from your mind like the remnants of winter in March.
The answers to these questions evade expression as you sit in the silence of unnamed emotion. A familiar sense of isolation grips you. “Who will understand me if I hardly understand myself? How do I overcome something I can’t even articulate?”
Some things can’t be contained. They can’t be explained. They can’t be described in the limited medium of language… Maybe there’s another way:
Perhaps your emotions are a hurricane. Loud and angry red, neon green anxiety, ice blue fear or dark indigo despair. Maybe, just maybe, a hopeful, golden yellow shines from the right hand corner. Or maybe not.
Does the eating disorder spiral down off the page? Emerge from a knot of black marker scribbles? Is it etched? Does it bleed? Are you tired of colouring within rigid, straight lines? What is it all connected to?
Erase. Keep. Re-write. Trace over. Cross off. Colour in. Highlight. Cut out. Tear apart. Start again.
Each day is a blank canvas. There is no such thing as mistakes on this path.
Recovery is messy. It’s supposed to be.
You’re not doing it wrong.
Creative expression can convey emotions we fail to find words for.
We are thrilled to be offering our first-ever Art Therapy Support Group, starting on April 23, 2022.
Click here to learn more and register.
No artistic experience or skill necessary!