I’m not the only person realizing this but those who came to my painting events also prove their creative ability in painting. More importantly, making art is considered as a power tool to help them tell their stories better, of course, no judgment is allowed to be born there.
To be honest, I feel grateful for finding inner peace with making art and one day this idea came to me: why not organize a space that people can come to paint and comfortably share their stories with strangers as friends. That's why I decided to open my painting crew with 2 members and run our monthly events until the covid pandemic hit our city for the first time. People came to the events along with their stories, even the deepest feelings that they once had. We laughed, we had small talks, we had the most adorable and creative paintings as well as the silent and emotional moments. I had chances to broaden my view and be more empathetic through stories from participants. Here are 4 stories that I heard from them.
The theme was painting your most memorable stories and then explaining to the others what they mean.
The first girl was 18. The painting was the image of a colorful countryside landscape at sunset. It was all about her childhood since she was a little girl. She said the topic reminded her of nostalgic, beautiful and peaceful feelings in her hometown. Like many grown-ups, she had to live far away from her home to have better academic opportunities and employment opportunities as well. She had thrown herself into tons of homework, self-development courses and 2 part-time jobs that she no longer has enough time to feel happy again as she did in her younger days. She told enthusiastically about how interesting the games were that her friends and she innocently got involved in, how happy she used to be and how gorgeous the sunset was when looked from the backyard. All these childhood memories were so precious not only to her but also to all people who used to be kids, I think. She said she missed her old days so much and one moment I realized a tear was rolling down her face.
The second story with the black and white painting and this girl reached 21. Unlike the colorful one of the first girl, this painting looked a little bit gloomy and bleak. If you were me at that moment looking at the painting, you would realize something behind it. Being tedious was exactly what she was feeling at that time. Nothing new occurred and she was struggling to step out of her comfort zone. She always admired others who have done what she hasn't done but felt so scared to start something new and different. I think not only does she have this feeling but also the majority of the young who are struggling to level themselves up, to grow day by day and to be the better version we wanted to be. This girl is on the way to find her light to shine, find her community to belong to. It is only a matter of time.
At 29, she painted a cactus on the barren landscape. She said a cactus represented herself - being bold, diligent and resilient, the barren landscape was a metaphor for the norm of society placed upon herself - getting married, a stable life, a high-paid job, or an ok boyfriend, these things that her relatives and neighbors think she would have had at her age. She said that she felt stressed out all the time when came back to her hometown on occasions. Conversations with her mom and aunts about blind dates made her emotionally drained and that’s why she has always chosen traveling on holidays instead of returning home as usual. Anyway, no matter what came to her, good or bad, she was willing to embrace positively and fight for what she really wanted. She learned that all of her problems will not go away at once but she is the only person being responsible for her entire life that how it might go on, not someone else. Even though it might take her a long way to be closer to her goals, after all the results would be worth it.
The last girl who had a sense of humor tried to make a cute green turtle which represented herself on her own to find the love of her life and she was 25. The turtle meant her fate was as slowly as a turtle LOL
I completely loved the way she talked about her love story with a bit of humor and full of creativity. Indeed, we all have our own issues. It might be an argument with your co-worker yesterday or a sleepless night could cause irritation and no matter what they are, the way we choose to encounter them is much more important and this girl chooses to look on the bright side.
Are there any stories related to you? I always believe that each person coming into my life often gives me something, a lesson or a memory, they all are cherished. For us, we can only grow if we keep moving forwards and keep trying.
Thank you for reading my blog post !