Take Your Broken Heart and Turn It Into Art

"Take your broken heart and turn it into art'.

- Carrie Fisher

I love this quote from Carrie Fisher because that's exactly what I've spent most of my life doing, one way or another. From earliest childhood, this world and the people who were supposed to guide me through it have broken my heart into pieces. At times I felt sure that this broken-heartedness would kill me. But somehow I have managed to survive for over 5 decades. Despite the challenges of living in a world which has assured me that I don't fit in since the day I was born; despite my broken heart; my creativity, in tandem with my love of LIFE and the EARTH, has kept me going.

8 months old and already being trapped and restricted by the human World

To What Do I Owe My Life?

I truly owe my life to my love for nature; to my capacity for creativity; to my imagination; and to the sensitivity which has also been so difficult to live with. It's a dual-edged sword, this ability to see what others cannot bear to look upon - the inability to consistently keep my head down, my mouth shut, and 'be a good girl'. As a tiny toddler, this innate characteristic was already identified and labelled 'naughty' and 'bad'. Little Me was subjected to torturous attempts at indoctrination in order to eradicate these 'aberrant' tendencies. I could not have survived without the coping strategies I developed in response to these traumatic early experiences. It was constitutionally impossible for me to bow before 'authority'. I used my creativity from the very beginning to express my defiance, even as it guarded and masked the inner sensitivity which caused me to feel deeply wounded.

As a toddler, with Drowsy, the doll who defended me by expressing my anger, contempt, frustration and ALL the 'forbidden' emotions which landed me in hot water as a little child.

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I often wonder how many of us creative-types share similar experiences. I suspect that it is most, if not all, of us. It seems obvious to me that the vast majority of children subjected to the process of 'civilisation' suffer terribly for it along the way. Some of us turn to creativity in one form or another and it becomes our saving grace...

Through all of life's challenges, through every 'darkest hour', nature and creativity have been there for me, providing me with a safe place in which to exist and to express whatever was really alive in me. Whether that was alone or with animal companions, whether through Story, Poetry, Song, Drawing, Painting... it's all Art. Always Art. The Art of Being Real. It's a lifesaver. It is.

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I hope you've enjoyed this post. As an independent, self-financing creative, and radically unschooling Mama, your support, kind-ness, and appreciation of my always-original content are most welcome!**

With love,

Jay x