Some wounds don’t have words. Sometimes the wound reaches a depth that is beyond words. We are creative beings. Some believe that if you aren’t using your creative energy, it starts creating dis-ease within the body. Art is often used to help relieve depression, stress, and emotional suppression.
There are people who have the talent and skill to be professional artists. There are people who are petrified of creating anything. And there are people in the middle. Expressing myself through art is something very dear to me. Maybe you’ve heard you have to name it to tame it. I have noticed when I’m able to name something out loud, it helps me feel better.
Trauma happens when we are left alone in our painful experiences. Trauma can come from a big event, or it can come from constant stress that accumulates over many years. Since so many of us hold pain from our childhoods from not being truly seen, being witnessed now can be very healing. We can be witnessed by therapists, a support group, or a loved one who is able to hold space for us. We can also be our own witness. In a way, we can be our own parent now to that little 5-year-old still living inside us.
Let’s explore some different ways to turn your attention inward and give voice to parts of you that have been silenced. Externalizing our inner world has a way of helping us feel more empowered.
01. Write words that represent your experience
As easy as journaling sounds, many experience a block with writing about their feelings. Maybe people are disconnected from their bodies, so it’s hard to even know what they are feeling. Maybe they are scared of finally being honest about their feelings. Writing words that describe your childhood is still expressing and validating your experience and is much easier than writing sentences.
When we push our emotions down in our bodies, they don’t get to be fully felt. Emotions are energy in motion, and writing is a way to keep the energy moving. There’s been some debate on whether emotions or trauma get “stuck” and held in the body. Whether or not emotions such as anger or sadness are physically stored in the body, the pattern of ignoring or shoving them down isn’t healthy. Creating and expressing ourselves helps our energy stay in motion.
With a sheet of blank paper and a writing utensil that brings you joy. Your favorite pen, marker, or even paintbrush. Take a deep breath and bring your awareness to your childhood. What words come to your mind when you think of your childhood? Don’t overthink it; write what comes up. You can write them neatly in a line or randomly all over the page. No rules and no right or wrong way. Let go of perfection and don’t filter yourself. You can always burn the paper when you’re done.
02. Collect imagery that represents your childhood
You can create a collage of different images. Be curious about what represents your childhood, hidden pain, deep longing, or even your dreams. Even though dreams are happy, they can carry pain and grief if we haven’t reached them yet. We can find symbolism everywhere. Anything can be as inconsequential or as meaningful as we want it to be. You might be drawn to a certain animal because of their spirit. Certain colors fit a certain mood. What objects represent what you want to express?
Create a Pinterest board (you can make it private) and search for quotes, objects, pictures, or colors that represent your experience. I will search random words that represent the feeling I’m trying to capture and then pin the ones that resonate with me. I did this a lot many years ago when I was in the beginning of my healing journey. I wasn’t able to fully write about my experiences yet. Words were hard, but I could find certain keywords that helped me search for pins that helped me express myself. It helped me feel like I wasn’t alone in the world.
You can do the same thing with magazines. Cut out pictures that represent your feelings, dreams, or goals. Even just things that bring you joy. I don’t love the magazine method because it feels limiting to me. The internet has an endless supply of images. You can copy and paste different pictures to a Word document, resize them, print them out, and glue them onto a collage. Your focus can be specific to one memory, or a general representation of a specific season of your life. Just ask yourself what is coming up for you that wants to be expressed. Ask yourself and then allow the answer to come to you. It will. There is an element of curiosity and play with this. Even though we are talking about deep feelings and difficult experiences or heartfelt dreams, this process of creating should have a certain ease to it. A flow.
03. Find Quotes that speak to you
Quotes can help reach something deep inside of us and describe what we are feeling without us having to write the words ourselves. The details of our stories are different. But there are only so many emotions to feel. Poetry or quotes are about connecting to universal emotions. A quote can mean something a little different to 100 different people. But for the 100 people, it touches something inside them. Sometimes it helps to use something outside of ourselves to mirror what is happening inside of us. Especially if we haven’t learned to go within and sit with our deepest pain yet. A quote can act as a bridge into our inner world and make it a lot easier to meet ourselves where we are.
I prefer Pinterest to search for quotes. Back many years ago, when I felt alone in my pain, I would spend hours lying in bed reading quotes that spoke to me. It was hard to form my own words around my pain and my longing for healing, so I relied on the words of others to help me.
One night, years ago, I read “You deserve someone who is terrified to lose you,” by R. H. Sin. I was lying in bed when I read these words. Tears ran down my face. One of my deepest longings was to find my forever person. I longed to be in love with someone in love with me. I held deep pain around toxic guys, always playing the role of the savior with damaged men. Well, I never saved anyone, and I only ended up more broken. This quote told me that what I longed for and dreamed for was real. An amazing man was out there somewhere, and I could find him. Sometimes we remember the moments we are changed. I have now been with this amazing man for almost 7 years.
04. Start an Art Journal
There is this wonderful thing called a mixed media journal notebook. It’s basically a journal of thicker paper for the use of different art mediums. Painting on the pages will change the feel and look of the pages, but it won’t soak through. At least it never has for me. You can really do anything you want. Paint abstract pictures, paint quotes, write with markers, glue scrapbook paper, and whatever else calls to you.
I love the feeling of the journal more than a single blank page for art because one blank page in front of me carries so much heaviness. With one page, the perfection feeling comes up to the surface, but with the journal I feel more freedom. Having multiple pages allows me to keep creating different expressions rather than the pressure of just one. Having all the pages connected keeps them safe in one place, and they aren’t awkward to store and keep. We all have our preferences, of course. Go with what feels the best for you. I use the brand Canson; the size is 7 x 10 in, 98lb.
05. Move or dance to a deeply felt song
When you have a moment alone, or when your mind begins to travel back to the past, wondering if it holds the answers on how to get to your future, pull up your song list and play a song that expresses what you are feeling inside. Allow yourself to be present with the song and feel what comes up. Songs allow us to travel into the depths of our emotions. You know the song isn’t going to last forever, so the song acts like an emotional container. Giving you something to hold on to as you venture into long-lost feelings. Allow your emotions to move with the song. Allow your body to move with the song. Dance intuitively to the song. You decide how to use the song to meet you where you are.
Lasting Thoughts
What is the key to healing anyway? It’s meeting yourself where you are. Being your own witness. Receiving support from others. Expressing your voice. Getting into the present moment. Allowing yourself to express what was buried. Trauma is created because we were left alone in our pain and alone in our experiences. Name it to tame it. The more we visit our inner world, the more we set free, and the less we feel like we are going to get stuck there. The more we integrate our whole selves, the lighter we become as we move through our lives. Just as you made a pattern out of abandoning yourself over and over again —you have to build another pattern of meeting yourself where you are over and over again. Until it becomes the new pattern. Until it becomes the new way you move through life.
Leave a Reply