The helping heART

Oftentimes when I am painting, I am thinking about how all of life is connected from the chance encounters, mishaps, to the seemingly out of the blue coincidences. I love to tune in while quietly creating and how painting feels like a mindful act of meditation.

When I am in the hustle and bustle of everyday life it's so easy to get tunnel vision and view everything and everyone else as completely separate from me. Our world and even our issues seem isolated. In reality and in those quiet moments of introspection, I believe we know and can feel all is connected. Typically, whenever we are struggling it is not necessarily completely unique to us and our experiences. I myself can easily to get stuck in this limiting mindset and negative outlook of isolation but I do wholeheartedly know we live in a collective, and we are all a part of the collective.

I think one of the most impactful and valuable things we can do as humans is to fearlessly embrace our flawed, authentic selves by being open and vulnerable when interacting with ourselves and the world. Vulnerability is oftentimes viewed as weakness, but it is a superpower. Being vulnerable is what strengthens us, and it dissolves the illusion of separation and creates deep understanding, encouragement, and true empathy.

I cannot tell you how much it has meant to me during my most challenging moments to hear a heartfelt, “I can relate, we’ve all been there, and you are going to get through this.” Just seeing and knowing someone else has dealt with something similar can give such hope in the ability to push forward and overcome.

We are constantly interacting and impacting everyone, from the individual working the Starbucks' window to your coworker or companion. I believe that we always have a choice to be conscious of our connectedness and how we choose to use our voice, talents, smile, and energy. Let’s choose to be an uplifting, positive force because when we give freely of ourselves, it nourishes our souls. We are the nourishment needed to help those around us bloom.