Bearing hard times with creativity
Lean in, and out
As a recovering emotional and spiritual “chronic bypasser”, I have embraced the need for being present with what is happening in the moment for most things as a way to be with emotion and stay embodied, rather than shove down emotions and detach. To be fair, this is often not fun and can involve tears, physically working out the emotion, creating very raw art, etc. However, sometimes in extreme trauma, being with it all at once can seem like we may drown in it.
For example, I remember very soon after a hard loss in my life, a friend asking me what I’ve learned through that situation of walking with a young friend as she passed away from cancer. I remember having to say to my friend, “Honestly, it’s too soon for me to even start to answer that.” I was still in survival mode, and most likely in shock. In case you are in the midst of traumatic circumstances currently, and bearing the weight of it all at once seems overwhelming, I want to share a different approach I’m learning about.
Art in a Concentration Camp - Friedl Dicker-Brandeis
I recently read a very intriguing article by Dr. Cathy Malchiodi titled, “Imagination and Expressive Arts as Antidotes to Adversity” (2019), In it, Malchiodi shares how she studied the earlier work of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis with children who had been detained during the Holocaust as reference for current work with children who have been detained at the US border.
Drawing created by Hana Zieglerová (1933-1944) during the drawing classes in the Terezín Ghetto organized between 1943 and 1944 by the painter and teacher Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (Jewish Museum in Prague), sourced from The Times of Israel, 2019
Artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was detained herself in the Therseinstadt (Terezin) camp in 1942. A woman after my own heart, she packed art supplies with her when she was deported in order to be able to teach art to children in the hybrid concentration camp and ghetto. During her captivation, she taught children detainees art and theater as a form of therapy. She encouraged her students to use their imagination and become one with what they were drawing in a way to mentally cope with the misery. Nearly 5000 pieces of art by her and the children were found in suitcases she had hidden at Thersinstadt before being transferred to another camp, Auschwitz, where she eventually died.
“It was the imagining that sustained these survivors while experiencing horrific conditions.” - Dr. Malchiodi, 2019
Malchiodi shares that the few survivors who were children at the time agreed that Friedl’s art teaching “redirected each of them to embody the beauty of life through their art expressions rather than depict the daily horror that surrounded them”. The author continues that she believes it was the imagining that sustained these survivors while experiencing horrific conditions.
Imagining Beauty in the Midst of Pain
Drawing painful memories is certainly a helpful method often used in art therapy settings as well as in my own journaling practice to allow for self-expression and letting go. However, this article shed light for me that depicting happiness in the midst of adversity also has the benefit of turning from negative thoughts. Allowing time for the imagination of happiness can serve as a reprieve from the current circumstances. Creating space for beauty in the midst of pain is valuable. As Dr. Malchiodi shares, creating new narratives post-trauma allows people to move away from the distress. By creating space for beauty, people in the midst of trauma can have material to support a new narrative, even if it has not materialized in life yet.
Vision Journal page by Sarah King, depicting imagining beauty in the midst of pain.
While I sincerely hope no one is ever faced again with being sent to a concentration camp, severe trauma is not all around us in various forms. I hope that you will never need this lesson.
However, in case you or someone else you know is in the midst of trauma, in addition to any professional help available to you, embracing your imagination and creativity can be a reprieve and a good distraction to help sustain you and bear the current moment. The next moment will come. This too shall pass.
In the meantime, let your favorite creative tool, whether it be a pencil, paint, your body through dance or theater, your voice or an instrument through song, be a vessel of encouragement and light in the midst of the dark. May this be a safe vessel for your travel through the dark period.
Then, once you feel the light again, I encourage you to seek help and express and process the trauma or hard thing in order to let it out and not have it hold you back from fully living into your new narrative and season.
Responding through Art
I created the page pictured in response to this learning as a reminder to myself if needed in the future. Click the demo video below to watch the process in case you are interested in using this technique yourself.
Supplies:
Gouache (you could use any type of paint, markers, or colored pencils)
Paintbrush, water, paper towel
Old book page (Could use a newspaper instead)