Grief has been on my mind lately because we recently lost someone we knew last month. It has had me pondering the fragility of life, and how even relatively young people can go from a sudden illness. If grief is not something you are going through right now, you may want to skip reading this post, but if you are going through a season of grief, I wanted to share some insights I’ve gained as someone who has moved through grief many times in my life, and how healing with creativity always seemed to play a role in my healing process.
Different Forms of Grief
Grief comes in many forms. Some of us have experienced grief from losing a loved one. But, there are also other forms of grief – losing a career identity as you move onto a new chapter in life, moving to a completely new location and losing the comforts of the old world you knew, losing health, experiencing a failing business, losing a job, losing a community, or anything where you have had to let go without being fully emotionally prepared.
We all have experienced these transitions in life at some point. If it was on your terms — such as leaving a job to pursue a new opportunity, or moving to a new city to embark on something new and exciting — then, you probably wouldn’t label it as grief. It is an exciting new adventure!
But if a transition came upon suddenly without you being prepared, it can often bring feelings of grief. Sometimes, we don’t have time to process all the emotions as we have things to take care of in our lives. The world doesn’t stop because something unexpected happened.
If you’ve experienced unexpected loss of any kind and were too busy to process your feelings, you may have unhealed parts of you that may need some tender love and care. Many of us carry this unprocessed grief for years, and it can show up in our lives in other ways.
If you look at your life, you might see a turning point where things changed, and you weren’t quite the same person you were before, and the world around you began to reflect that. It could look like unprocessed objects in your house that look like clutter, or just simply a different outlook on life that may be smaller or less bright than the one you had before.
I’ve experienced a lot of loss in my life – my grandma passing away, miscarriages, my sister passing away, my husband’s job losses, financial loss when properties wouldn’t sell, health issues, health issues in family members, loss of career identity, and most importantly, a loss of joy from so many hardships back to back to back.
For me, this manifestation of unprocessed grief appeared in increased stress in many areas of my life, health issues, financial issues, marriage issues, shrinking and playing small in business, disorganization, excess fatigue, and more. I slowly saw my light dim over time until I did not recognize myself anymore. The once lively, optimistic person moved into the shadows.
The beauty in all of this, though, is that I really rediscovered and strengthened my relationship with Jesus in the midst of all the trials. I’m here and standing because of Him.
Watercolor as Art Therapy
Over the years, I’ve engaged in creative pursuits of all kinds, but I discovered watercolor after inheriting some of my sister’s watercolor supplies after she passed away. She was using watercolor to meet with children as a form of art therapy during her grad school program.
Little did I expect, but it eventually became my therapy too.
It brought joy back to my soul that I didn’t expect.
Travel used to be my therapy, but with my kids’ school and sports schedules, and going through financial hardship after job loss, travel became a luxury we could not really indulge in anymore.
The beauty of watercolor was that it was so portable. I could do it anywhere. All I needed was a little table, and I didn’t need to travel to a far-off land to begin.
I took many classes that I found interesting to help me learn all the techniques, and went through many watercolor workbooks and watercolor books.
I purchased and tried many different brands of watercolor, too. Oh, and brushes. Every teacher seemed to recommend different supplies, so I amassed quite a collection, which I will be writing about on this blog.
The Gift of Art
After years of practicing and learning watercolor, when the person I knew passed away suddenly last month, the first thing I could think of was to paint a beautiful, serene scene for the widow who was left with 4 young children. It was a painting of a sunrise to give a sense of hope and beauty during a time of great loss.
It was the first time I realized that creativity and art can have a healing effect, not only on the one who engages in the creativity, but also on the one who receives it.
Watercolor was the first medium that connected me back to joy and brought me back to life. I hoped that seeing this painting would do the same for her, too.
This is the painting I painted, thanks to a tutorial from Relaxing Art with Janet, using my new handmade A. Gallo Naturale watercolor paints that brought me so much joy! I titled it, “A New Day is Dawning.”
I wanted to share some beauty and joy in the midst of so much sorrow.
Creating Art To Process Grief
If you are going through a grieving period of any kind, I would recommend trying watercolor. There is something soothing about putting paint on paper and seeing water move it around. Even if the artwork is nothing you would hang up, it is soothing to the soul. The joy of playing with colors in a time that feels dark brings something bright to look at.
Engaging in watercolor during such a time is not about performance – it has nothing to do with how well you paint. It is about calming down and experiencing the peace of engaging with something creative and colorful.
Find some time to play with colors. It can be in any medium.
It can’t fix what’s broken in your life, but it can be a comforting balm in times of stress. Calming down your nervous system can give you the strength to face whatever it is you have going on in your life. And you can ask God to meet you in your creative process. There is much joy and light to be found even in the midst of the darkest of times.
Find something you find beautiful, and try to paint it. The satisfaction of having tried it will give you a little boost of energy.
Everyone can use a little more beauty in their lives, and creating something beautiful is one way to bring it in.
No matter what you are going through, you will get through it. There’s so much joy in little everyday moments. Focusing on the little joys will help you to see all the good things that are already in your life, and give you hope that there are so many good things that have yet to come for you!
Take some time to slow down, engage in something creative that seems interesting to you, and appreciate the gift of life and all it has to offer. There is healing with creativity.
The best is yet to come!