Introduction

I hate introductions but I guess it's necessary to explain a few things. So here it goes: I have PTSD. Obviously...

This blog will not contain any of my trauma story - all I will say is that it was childhood sexual abuse, it sucked, and that is why I have PTSD.  This is only about dealing with the after effects of that trauma.

My awesome therapist describes dealing with PTSD as a dance. It's complicated and hard and tiring and there's no easy way to treat it. It's a fucking long process. It comes with lots of confusing emotions and intense feelings. And for me, it also involves difficulty expressing those feelings in words. So that is why this is an art blog.

Despite my fears of letting people see my art and exposing myself to the critics out there, I want to share my work in the hopes that it might help someone somewhere somehow. Possible ways this might happen:

1. Someone sees this blog who has PTSD and isn't able to express their feelings in words either and they see something they recognize and can relate to in my work.
2. Someone sees this blog who does not have PTSD and then maybe understands the disorder a little better than they did before.

Moving on to an explanation of my art: This has been a long, ongoing journey for me and I only started doing the art part in May 2011, so this art doesn't really have a beginning or end. I usually use oil pastels because I like the medium and they also feel like crayons for adults. I'll try to explain the works as I go, but a lot of people that look at them find their own meanings in them - so if they speak to you in some other way than I describe then that's cool and just go with that.

I don't know if anything else requires explanation but hopefully, after this point, most of it can just speak for itself. Hopefully...