Brene Brown is one of my favorite authors and speakers. In a way my Jesus in the Mess series is about exploring vulnerability and increasing self love and acceptance. Being honest and vulnerable about my life or my family is hard. Is challenging to share and admit what I struggle with, but the more I share the more I realize everyone has Mess. Many of us experience similar trials, if not similar trials then feelings that are similar. We all have many moments in our days of feeling overwhelmed, excited, frustrate, afraid, and so on. The question is what to do with these emotions? I was raised with the idea “emotions and feelings are bad, be cool and numb instead because emotions cause hurt and are hard. Being emotional = being vulnerable, which is bad.”
Brene Brown, and my experiences, contradict the idea emotions are bad. In her book, Brene wrote
”Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
By posting and painting I seek to embrace the vulnerable and messy emotions in my life and my family. I don’t want comments, likes, praise, or pity. I express and write because I AM. Meaning this is who I am.
These paintings were painted with my 9 year old. The first one is “Ghost Jesus.” My son thought his abstract mess looked like a ghost and was scary. I showed him how easy it was to turn it into Jesus so he would no longer be afraid. It’s easy to be afraid of ourselves, our actions, and the mess we create. But it is possible to find Jesus in it.
Commenti