Self love in daily doses and a touch on the forgiveness topic - 28 days of self love
When daily drawings keep you going
So many times, so many people talk about forgiveness—and I cringe. I do. And there is nothing I can or want to do about it.
Complex PTSD survivors carry weights nobody sees, burdens few understand, yet they find themselves lectured constantly.
It never fails to amaze me how easily people say:
"Forgive the ones who traumatized you."
"It will do you good."
"They didn’t mean it—they were traumatized too."
Yet, those same people rarely spare a moment to understand you—the person grasping for air, metaphorically speaking, almost daily.
Complex trauma isn’t just a wound from the past; it’s a layered, relentless force that often persists in the present. Telling someone to forgive without understanding their pain is not only dismissive—it’s cruel.
Failing to acknowledge the bravery of the person standing before you, not bothering to ask, How do you survive each day? How do you carry these unseen weights on your shoulders? How do you keep smiling and inspiring others while your own world is in ruins?—that, too, is an act of cruelty. It’s pouring salt on an open wound.
Art saved me. Art saves me. It gives me the power and energy to love myself and to keep going, every single day.
And now, another week in images and thoughts. In spite of it all I keep going!
The other day, I was talking to a friend about how, with every instance of verbal abuse, a piece of you is chipped away.
You really do lose parts of yourself. One of the hardest things is being in situations where you simply can’t stand up for yourself—whether as a child, a young adult, in the workplace, or in an abusive relationship.
Sometimes, confronting the perpetrator isn’t an option. But sometimes years later we can still reclaim our voice—we can write, paint, draw our experiences, and give expression to the wounded parts of ourselves. And in doing so, we begin to reclaim who we are.
Drawing on a tiny piece of card… Sometimes, we don’t have the energy to tackle a big canvas or even a full sheet of paper—and that’s okay. It doesn’t matter. Just pick up a small piece and let yourself create. A few strokes, a splash of color—whatever feels right. Even a tiny act of creativity can bring a few moments of calm and relief.
Trauma can leave us feeling as if we've lost a few pieces of ourselves. I remember a moving story of a Sherpa walking alongside European climbers. One day, he stopped, sat on a boulder, and remained perfectly still. Curious, one climber asked, "What are you doing?" The Sherpa replied, "I'm waiting for my soul to join me." This simple yet profound act reminds us that self-love goes beyond surface-level affirmations—it’s about truly acknowledging and validating our inner self, even when life’s hardships have left us feeling fragmented.
If you’ve been bullied in the workplace, your confidence and self-worth have taken a massive hit. It can feel as if the entire world is the same—no hope on the horizon.
Someone once said that those who bully behave like animals. What an insult to animals. No, I said. These people are something else—non-human, the embodiment of cruelty.
Yet,
Every day you face those demons, you show bravery.
Every time you bite your tongue to keep the peace, you show bravery.
Every time you help someone else despite your own pain, you show bravery.
And when you finally walk away from such a toxic place, you show not only bravery but the ultimate act of self-love.
Self worth goes hand in hand with self love!
Why are some of my images sad? I've been asked this many times. They reflect a part of me—the wounded, quiet self that was forced to hide, her voice silenced, her tears frozen in ice. She needs to be seen, to be heard. Each story I share is an act of self-love, a way of reclaiming the lost pieces of myself. Through every image, every word, she steps forward, no longer hidden.
Another extremely grey and damp day! Winters in England can be relentlessly dull—“unpleasant” is putting it diplomatically. Well let s forget about diplomacy shall we?! “Horrible”feels more accurate! No wonder those with means escape for months at a time. Perhaps that’s why I crave bold, vibrant colours—the antidote to all this monotony.
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Thank you for fuelling the inspiration
Naked truth Chapter 15 The Weight of Remembering - WW2
·"The war was a great and terrible event. It was a time when each person had to make a choice. And that choice was not always about good and evil, but about how to remain human in inhuman circumstances." - Vasily Grossman - Life and fate
Modern work environment = modern slavery - Naked truth chapter 27
·Trauma shapes the way we approach life as a whole, especially work. Reflecting on her experience, in Romania, Martha remembers that “work was my sacred space—a refuge where I found appreciation, community, and joy, even in exchange for long hours and hard work”.
Art conquers trauma in the land of unspoken language <3