Not only pink and fluffy...

Ok, I know I give the impression with my blog title that I'm only into pink fuzzy thoughts... Well, most of the time I use those to block out other things that otherwise would keep my mind occupated all through the night. A girl needs her sleep, right?

But I keep thinking maybe I should share some of the deeper thoughts as well.. Wouldn't want my friends to think there's nothing more to me than eating and scrapbooking and having fun... :)

The last two weeks or so a certain subject seems to pop up more often than before, in conversations with several friends: why do we keep talking about things we think we really should put aside and don't bother with? Answer: because we can't. But live would be too simple if that was that.

I'm reading a lot of weblogs by scrapbookers and 'serious' artists, to find out they're not that different from you and me. Keri Smith, an illustrator from Toronto, wrote some words that have been in my head ever since I read them. I know she writes in light of her creative abilities, her creative state of mind, but even though we aren't all established artist, aren't we creating our lives?

"I've been looking for a way to start writing. An idea, a method, something poignant to say. How do I write something comforting, when I do not feel comfortable? Talking about creating and being creative seems frivolous right now, unnecessary. How do we even talk about something we have no way of understanding? I can talk about what I do know.

It is not what is said that matters, it is the act of writing and talking that helps us, heals us.

I have heard interviews with many writers suffering from what appears to be a "trauma induced writers block". Speechlessness. That dull pain in the pit of your stomach wants to leech all the words out of you in a breathless thump. But this is precisely where we need to go, to investigate the nature of this pain. To just try and get some words out.

(...)

How we so need to express ourselves, to understand the jumble of emotions, to process the intense images we have taken in, in such a short period of time.

I crave comfort. In a time where such comfort is elusive, deep down I know that I must really test the limits and breadth of my creativity by continuing to write and express. My faith in creating is being tested. My faith in everything is being tested. I will not back down. Yes, I have been here before just not in the same way. What
got me through it was a incredible and ironic lesson in the power of expression.

(...)

"The remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and god. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that god wishes to see people happy amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, I know there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be."
-Anne Frank 1944

(...)"

Just some words that resonated with me... You might think it's far from what led me here: why do we keep talking about things we think we should put aside? I think I found an answer in Keri's words: because we're just not there yet. And to get there, we should express ourselves, to learn, to heal, to understand.

You can use a journal, whether it's on paper or on screen.
You can scrapbook about it.
You can talk to good friends.

As long as you just do it and together we'll get through it all.
Eventually.
I promise.