Holding onto trauma as an artistic identity
There’s a long running stigma that has been boxing your creativity in a corner. The idea that you can’t obtain creative prowess without an unhinged relationship with trauma.
Great art comes from pain, great art comes from suffering, we’ve heard that. What about when great art just comes from being human? I think this is where the lines blur… as trauma also is human. So, when did these two things coincide, when did the stigma blossom into a harsh “reality”?
It’s our way of romanticizing our trauma. To feel inherently special from it, because of our ability to manipulate it into a painting, photograph, etc. for the outside world, we are creating self-value.
We all want to be seen, and we all want to be valued, if we all feel trauma (which we do) then isn’t it a lot less special, meaning that its pain is less justified. To convince ourselves otherwise, we direct that pain into our creativity, because if we can use it to make something tangible, something that is just ours AND that holds value then we can justify going through that pain in the first place.
What does it look like to create, strictly from the place of just being human? Can we trust ourselves with our creativity when we release our attachment from the pain of it?
The reality is we all have trauma, and no one’s is greater than the others. We all respond to our trauma in a human way. We want it to pay us back, the unhealed us wants our restitutions. If it took so much from you then you deserve a good story, right? This is creating a barrier with your highest self. The self that wants to paint because the fluid motion in your arms fuels your energy. The self that chooses to not hold a lens up at a beautiful sight because honoring a moment for being left in time is a powerful statement of your vision. The self that is capable of observing and being still in an ever-moving fluid world.
Is this even possible, to create this much separation. You can make the argument that your trauma IS what makes you human, so then you cannot be a true creative without tapping into its force. Two opposites of the same human experience coin. It’s about the relationship. Who steers the ship? Are we functioning in a place of attachment to our crap or are we honoring its presence and choosing a path forward.
Creating out of fluid motions, out of instinct is the goal. Trauma is stored in your body so put it to work! Guide it through you, give it space to flick the brush or walk your feet up one more block because you haven’t seen it all. When we channel it in the direction to work for us and tap into what I like to identify as our alternate reality (the place where your creativity takes you) then it becomes a tool. Trauma wants to escape; it doesn’t want to stay with you as much as you don’t want it there. So instead of identifying with it and grasping it so tight to your chest because you’re scared of who you are without it, PUT IT TO WORK. Let it move through you and RELEASE.
