Happiness is not tangible. You cannot touch it, you cannot measure it, you cannot put it in a box and keep it in a safe place. That is because happiness is a concept, a creation of the mind, something invented. I believe that happiness is up to each of us. What makes someone happy could make someone else sad . Happiness is a personal experience that belongs to us alone.
The opposite of happiness is pain, physical and emotional. But I want to focus on emotional pain. Emotionally painful experiences have endless sources; some come from childhood and some from adulthood. They come in all sizes and colors. Some create deep scars and some don’t leave scars at all. But all of them shape us to be the person that we are, depending on how we interact with them. When pain owns you, you become a victim and it is hard to move forward from that position. But when you do the opposite and own your pain, then you become the object of the experience, so it is easier to establish some distance, evaluate the situation and find solutions.
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I believe that pain is an organic part of life and it is impossible to avoid. This is when creativity can play an important role. You cannot avoid painful expriences but you can re-create them, and uncover their meaning. The more creative you are, the wider range of things you will be able to do with your pain.
I was telling my daughter Natalie that each person has a pain collection, like the tear collection in my drawing. This collection is our patrimony, something valuable because it tells us a lot about life. Behind each “item” in that collection there is a lesson. I believe that it is important to treasure beautiful memories and experiences because they inspire us to keep going. But it is equally important to embrace the ugly, because ugliness helps us find and define beauty . . . and value it even more.
THANK YOU ELSA ! Is so important to talk about the sides people/society don´t want to see because they are supposed to be negatives. I think imperfection, pain, problems are always opportunities to make us strong, to learn and to express our personal essence.
Yuly recently posted..BLOG Study Case
Yes Yuly, I agree with you. Because something is negative it doesn’t mean that we should run away from it. Behind the negative there is always something to learn, a lesson, a clue, a message, something that we won’t be able to see unless we look at it with intention.
Elsa Mora recently posted..Thoughts About Pain.
You have expressed pain in such a profoundly beautiful way…and your drawing is spectacular.
Sherri B. recently posted..The Soul Always Knows
Thanks Sherri, I’m glad that you liked the drawing 🙂
Elsa Mora recently posted..Thoughts About Pain.
It’s a wonderful spiritual practice to say thanks for everything in our lives, the good and the bad, and look for some tiny small way you could find good in the bad. This post reminds me of the importance of doing that–thank you.
Charlotte Rains Dixon recently posted..Win the Publishing Game: 7 Steps to Getting Published
Yes Charlotte, gratefulness is so important. It is the door to happiness.
Elsa Mora recently posted..Thoughts About Pain.
This made me tear up. Someday I hope there is a collection in a book of all your drawings Elsa.
Thanks Bhavna! I would love to publish a little book with drawings one day.
Elsa Mora recently posted..I DESIGNED THIS ALPHABET FOR YOU.
This is another wise and beautiful post.
Great post…. amazing drawing! I am presently working at accepting my present pain and learning from it.
kim henkel recently posted..Wide Open Book
Gracias Elsa, acabo de encontrar tu blog y no solo me encanta lo que haces artísticamente sino los lindos mensajes que trasmitis. Te felicito por este lindo espacio y por llenar el mundo con un poquito más de luz, keep going! Con cariño desde Montevideo Uruguay 🙂 Carolina