“Being different and thinking differently make a person unforgettable.” –Suzy Kassem
My mental illness is definitely not something I generally like to talk about; however, it’s probably one of the main reasons why I write.
I saw this quote on the internet the other day, and it got me thinking about things. Lots of things.
“No matter what we make, creativity always changes the creator.” -anonymous
Anyone who creates, whether you’re a photographer, musician, or writer (the list can go on and on), not only do you have the ability to change your own life through the act of creating, but other people’s lives as well.
How do creatives have such powerful impact? One of the best answers I found was in this explanation:
“Art does not show people what to do, yet engaging with a good work of art can connect you to your senses, body, and mind. It can make the world felt. And this felt feeling may spur thinking, engagement, and even action.” -Olafur Eliasson, Why Art Has the Power To Change the World
To create is to connect. And in this day and age, we as the whole seemed to have lost the ability to truly connect with ourselves, to people, and to the world that surrounds us.
Is it a wonder to why we feel so lonely? So disconnected?
Yes, we have this thing called technology in abundance but it can NOT fully step into the role of the connector. While there is that feeling of being connected to someone on the other side of the digital barrier, it still feels artificial. Not real or alive.
On the other hand, creative arts have the ability to do just that.
Through music, paintings, sculptures, photographs, poetry, and on and on. So, while art has the power to bring people together, it also has the power to heal especially for the creator (aka artist, songwriter, poet, etc…you get the idea).
How does art heal us?
“Art and music affect every cell in the body instantly to create a healing physiology that changes the immune system and blood flow to all the organs. Art and Music also immediately change a person’s perceptions of their world. They change attitude, emotional state, and pain perception. They create hope and positivity and they help people cope with difficulties. They transform a person’s outlook and way of being in the world.” –How Art Heals-Mind/Body Physiology
Music has always been in my family especially on my mother’s side which yielded several musicians including an uncle who went on to play with an award-winning Native American-Folk band, December Wind. As a girl, I can remember many occasions when family members gathered together at my Grandmother’s house for a “jam session” completed with guitars, banjo, fiddle, accordion, harmonica and even a set of spoons. I was at an age where I was misunderstood (no one knew I was partially deaf until later) and music was something I understood. I’d sit on the floor, and “listened” to the beats and deep bass sounds for hours.
Although I loved music, I never learned to play an instrument (the desire was there though), I ended up singing in the school and church choirs for several years (I’d harmonized through the “beats” and reading music).
Since I couldn’t be a musician, I found myself drawn to words. Words I also understood so I delved deep in the worlds created by words. Here I connected with characters who became my friends since I had so few in the real world (byproduct of being “different”). After accidentally discovering writing (the story behind this discovery can be found here), I’d took my favorite characters (Scooby Doo and Shaggy were among those) and created my own world with them in it.
Writing became a lifeline to the intense loneliness I’d felt.
When I was in college, I took to writing journals as a way of dealing with the stress and pressures that went with being a student living away from home.
In 1992, I stopped writing altogether. This was the year I was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome (a form of Retinitis Pigmentosa-progressive blindness-which included hearing loss).
Depression really emerged at this point in my life though I was never diagnosed. And when I married my first husband, Aaron, anger replaced everything else I was feeling and he bore, unfortunately, the brunt of it. The depression and anger steadily grew worse over time, and then the worst happened.
He was killed in a car accident.
Grief and regrets overwhelmed me, and I nearly did the unthinkable. I backed out just before it was too late as I realized that this would be the ultimate regret that I could never return from. Worse of all, it would hurt my family as well as Aaron’s.
I just couldn’t do it.
Instead, I poured all my attention and strength into finishing college (which I did over a year after Aaron’s death). By this time, I’d moved out in my own apartment, but also had regressed from all social activities becoming a hermit with very little contact to the outside world.
Then Jay came into my life (actually he returned to my life, but that is another story of its own). He changed everything by not only marrying me, but by reintroducing writing back into my life through a gift of a leather-bound journal.
In this journal, I spew all my anger and pain like vomit. When the pages were all full, I closed the book and packed it away (even to this day I have not gone back to read it).
Now being emptied, the healing can begin.
(This is just part one of my story. I plan to continue in the near future)
