“Good Grief” shows a black center, surrounded by organized abstract designs. The abstract designs serve as a visual representation of the love and life that friends and family attempted to pour into me after the passing of my father. The black center represents the void and the emptiness that remained although there was love being poured into me.”
It’s been 18 months and 4 weeks or 574 days since I got the call that shifted my world. I have to admit the days have certainly gotten easier but there are some days that I am rushed by shock and disbelief. even more so on days I get good news or achieve something new.
I’m certain that everyone experiences grief differently but when my dad passed, for me it physically hurt. There were days I didn’t know how to explain that feeling to the people around me. If there ever were words to describe the pain, I would say it felt like a cord being ripped from your soul just dangling free, leaving open a wound that you can’t even reach to be able to patch up. So you just wait for it to mend itself. That is what it felt like. As proud and Independent as I’ve always been that was the first time in life I wished someone would save me.
I had countless friends and family reach out to me to just offer me space to grieve. They poured all the love, light, and encouragement you could think of into me… it was pure, authentic, good love but it still hurt of course.
It seemed like the only thing that saved me from drowning in my grief was diving deeper into my work thus “Good Grief” was born. I would however be remiss not to mention the intense grief counseling I sought.
“Good Grief” is another example of my art healing mission. Art has and is still healing me.
Although art has been very instrumental to my healing journey, I always strongly advocate for therapy or seeking a professional to help navigate different areas that sometimes can get beyond our control including grief!