Artistic Healing

Artistic Healing

Hello and welcome back to Raped 25 Years. At this time, I invite you the reader to take a short walk through my journey of healing as a sexual abuse and assault survivor. Don’t forget to stay to the end to enjoy my gem of positivity.

There are many dark days for me in this process of healing. This post, I have decided to share with you my thoughts on creative imagery as a tool to assist in healing. Yes, I have used poetry to creatively express what depression feels like for me.

Deep and dark 

Twisting on the

Inside 

As I drown in

Overwhelming fear

Of the unknown;

Never-ending tortuous 

Pain continues 

Rising.

Slowly sinking 

I curl up

Foetal position;

Why does nobody 

Hear my shrieks

For help as I flounder

To keep my head 

Out of the surf,

Waving my hand

In desperation.

Never ceasing,

The torment just 

Goes on;

Forever until 

I end.

As you can see, depression really does put me into a bad place. I curl in on myself, to shut the world out. This is in an effort to remain “safe” from perpetrators’ sadistic torments of ugly abuse, so that I can heal. 

But it doesn’t work that way. Notice in the poem that the spiral of depression and anxiety just get worse. Once you start on that dangerous downward spiral, it is so easy to forget about healing. To give in to the pain and misery and despair. To let the darkness take you in it’s nasty, grasping claw.

You the reader and I, are survivors. We have made it this far. Just think how far you and I can go, so long as we don’t give in and give up. So below, I have added another poem, written when I wasn’t feeling so down.

Damp and dank,

But oh, so very peaceful;

With majestic timbers,

Thick, ferny under storey,

And soft cushiony mosses.

Native animals make

Their homes,

While birdlife chatter

And screech in the

Dense canopy above.

A creek is heard

Gurgling and dancing its merry

Way to an almighty 

Powerful and crashing

Waterfall;

The distinct chimes

Of the bellbirds’ call

Resound eerily in the

Otherwise tranquil 

Stillness.

The trees start to 

Whisper and sway,

Moving to the organic 

Melody of the breeze,

As it rustles ever so

Softly through the foliage - 

Allowing faint rays of sun

To dapple the decomposing

Forest floor.

With a great burst of flurry,

A lyrebird breaks its cover,

To run elsewhere within 

The hidden depths.

A sleepy possum curls 

Deeper and tighter into

Its hollow home - 

Leaving the rainforest 

Damp and dank,

But, oh, so very

Very peaceful.

This poem was written as an imagery exercise. It invites me to use my senses — all of them, not just one or two. When I read it, I can actually smell the earthy floor of the rainforest, hear the distinctive chiming of the bellbirds and feel the peace all around me. I can even taste the moisture in the air. It is simply an image that for me says peace, tranquility.

That’s what imagery is about. Having a safe place you can retreat to, when the dark and painful and tormentingly scary situations arise. They will and do. Having that a break into something positive is a powerful survival skill for people like you the reader, and myself.

Do you have the image of a safe place in your mind? Feel free to share by leaving a comment below. You may just help another reader.

And now for the gem of positivity. This time it is an affirmation, but I think it fits the theme of this particular post:

I honor to rest and recharge

That is the definition of imagery in the healing process. Imagery is simply a tool to add to your skill sets. It really can help. Why not give it a go?

Thank you for taking a short stroll with me in my journey of healing. I look forward to meeting with you again soon. And until next time, just breathe and believe.