Art is the Language of the Heart
"Everything you can imagine is real".
-Pablo Picasso
When I was a little girl, my family life was extremely stressful and at times overwhelming. I remember that what I felt inside about life and what I was being taught didn't match up. I learned at a young age to express my anger, fear, confusion, and sadness through art and color. I would draw with anything I could find - mud, fog in the window, the food on my plate. I would draw to express my intense feelings. I learned how to release these feelings and to create a sense of safety and also a sense of control over a life I had little control of.
Once my heavy feelings were cleared, I would use the art materials as a self-soothing tool. I would move the vibrant, bright colors onto the page. It was as if the bright colors completely shifted my mood. I would let my mind wander. I began to create characters from my imagination who felt like friends. I created images of how I would like my life to be one day. I hung these images in my bedroom and focused on them with all of my heart and I would feel better. I had a sense of hope.
I realize now that I was taking time to express my feelings, to connect with my inner world and to visualize a new reality for myself with an open heart - not from a place of fear. I created visual anchors that gave me something I could hang onto when I felt completely lost. I learned how to tell myself a different story, a story about myself and my life that resonated with how I felt deep inside. I learned how to listen to the tiny whisper in my heart!
Tips for connecting with the whisper in your heart:
-Take the time to face and clear your heavy feelings
-Draw, write, run, sing - whatever feels most freeing to you!
-Create an image with a color that makes you feel happy
-Listen to the tiny whisper in your heart, what is your heart longing for?
-Create something to represent this feeling
-Hang somewhere you can look at it everyday with a big smile
-Decide to take steps each day so that you can have more of this feeling
-Over time your heart whisper will turn into a heart song that will easily guide you!
-Moving forward, consult your heart in every decision that you make
