Painting as Therapy

Today has been one of those emotionally draining, messed up kind of days. The kind of day that makes you want to go back to bed and start all over again because it just couldn't possibly get any worse than it is. It's been one of those days. What could possibly cause one of those days? Well, it started at 7am when my brother called me to tell me that my sister was in the hospital with a brain aneurism. That's a helluva way to wake up, let me tell you. Apparently not only did she have bleeding in her brain, the aneurism, but she also had a stroke AT AGE FORTY! She seems to be in stable condition, the bleeding has stopped, but they are still doing a lot of tests and don't have much information for any of us. The worst part is that my sister lives in Missouri and I live in California so I can't be with her or help her husband and four kids deal with this. I didn't know what to do.

After calling my family and getting a few texts from my sister who refused to let me fly out to Missouri,  I decided that I needed to go to the studio and paint. I needed to process things and think. I needed some space where I could get lost in what I was doing and not worry about the sixty million things I should be doing but couldn't because I wasn't in Missouri. Painting is my escape. It has always been my "safe place" and I really needed to be there. I was still able to talk to my brother-in-law, my father, and even got a call from my sister while there, but it felt better with a paint brush in my hand. My husband, being the great guy that he is, understood my need to paint during this and went to the studio and stayed close enough by to be there if I needed him, but far enough away that I still felt like I was escaping. It was probably the best way for me to deal with this and stay sane.

Painting can do that for some people. It can calm a person down, letting them able to process and think things through. It helps some people deal with their feelings and grief. It can help people sort out their emotions and get those out in a safe way. Painting is therapy and has helped me through many things. I am very grateful to have it in my life.

I haven't heard anything new about my sister but we are hopeful that she will be okay. She is conscious, talking, and stable. This is all good news. I'm sure I will be doing a lot of painting this weekend, between phone calls and texts from my family.