Art and Mental Health
I can’t believe it is already October. The leaves are changing, everything is heavily pumpkin flavored, and Halloween decorations are popping up all over my neighborhood. I particularly like all of the autumnal colors we see this time of year, but there is one color I don’t enjoy seeing this month: pink.
As a breast cancer survivor, the sudden assault of pink ribbons is always a little bit jarring and a reminder of a very difficult time in my life. I brace myself mentally and emotionally for this season by looking at how far I have come, each year making that time a more distant memory.
The day after I received my diagnosis, I set up my booth to participate in the Three Rivers Art Festival, a big outdoor art show in my hometown of Pittsburgh. I remember the heavy sadness blanketing me and my husband as we hung my paintings in my booth, and the rushed mornings of scans and medical tests before heading to the festival in the afternoon. I don’t like to think too much about those days, to be honest. I do like to think about how much my art carried me through that season in my life. I participated in a handful of outdoor art festivals that year and I was lucky to have something distracting me from the loss of my hair and impending surgeries.
Art has always been my outlet, a constant for me to retreat to when life has gotten tough. During cancer treatment, it was like a life raft, and I clung to it. There have been enough studies done now to make it clear that art is good for our mental health and can even be therapeutic. We reap the benefits of creating art even if we don’t consider ourselves to be any “good” at it (which is a silly self-imposed judgement of our abilities, if you ask me).
One thing I know is that we all face difficult seasons in our lives. Breast cancer was not my first and it certainly won’t be my last life challenge. Your struggles may look a little different, but whatever you face, I hope that you have an outlet to turn to that brings you peace and joy. Dare I suggest, maybe pick up some art supplies and create.
