Let’s face it, not every day is like rainbows and lollipops. It’s normal to feel a variety of feelings and emotions. They come and go. Picture them like clouds in the sky. If there are a lot of them, they block the sun. The sun is always present, it doesn’t disappear because clouds block it. The sun is just like our true core self. On the days when we feel an “emotional cloud cover”, it is hopeful and helpful to know that our true shining self is still within us. Coping with down days is harder when we don’t have hope that we will return to our sunny selves but knowing feelings and emotions are transient help.
Some emotions feel safer to express than others. For example, certain ones may not be safe to express in some families. Certain social norms hinder healthy emotional expression, such as boys don’t cry or girls being reproached for expressing anger. They are taught to be passive, agreeable and “sugar and spice, and everything nice”. However, because we are human, we have a normal full range of emotions. It is completely normal to have feelings of anger or irritability from time to time. It is what we do with these emotions that is important.
Art therapy is an excellent tool to safely release and express emotions. The artwork shared is one that expresses anger and negativity. It allowed it to flow onto the page, rather than dwell inside. In this piece markers and thick crayons were used to create marks representing the sense and vibe of the artist’s feelings. Then, the page was crumpled up and torn into pieces. These bits were placed down and adhered to another page with a glue stick. Other marks were made to the piece and this art piece was transformed into a new creation. Artmaking with an art therapist is a healthy way to release and express and transform negative feelings.
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