Rawan
I want to share the story of how these paintings came to be named. As you may know, I recently became married 👰🤵 (WooHoo!) . I was soooo excited to say “I do” to my darling Mateo, and I was incredibly eager for our Plan B (thanks to Coronavirus) honeymoon. The honeymoon obviously meant precious time together as newlyweds, but it also meant something else for me personally. I saw it as an escape from reality.
“I have just under two weeks to not think about my painful triggers, especially my lawsuit”.
I used this time to shut off from the world and “forget my problems”. However, life doesn’t go on pause just because you go on a trip 🤦♀️.
Even on our honeymoon, my well-intentioned lawyer calls to discuss my injury claim.
If you’ve ever dealt with traumatic injury, you know how it can affect your entire lifestyle and mindset.
One conversation can cause your shoulders to be up to your ears with tension. Being naïve, I thought I could be in denial during the time we were away from reality. Buuuuut, reality follows you wherever you try to hide. Aside from the lawsuit in general, I have felt scared of both life and death for the past few years. To the point where I have anxiety in fear of experiencing another anxiety attack. It’s quite a mess.
There are sickening thoughts in my head that I literally have to shake off. These thoughts vary – some reflect the cause and death of my father, some are of the fear I saw in my mother’s eyes as our house was once filled with smoke from a fire, but most are flashbacks of my hit from 2017 which has brought on more challenges than I ever imagined. These things have been with me for almost 4 years. Every single day I’m reminded of the loss and the pain and the fear. No matter how close I cling to the past or to the “much better future”, I’ve felt lonely and scared.
So, one day, when my husband and I were driving around on our honeymoon tour and talking about about my daunting upcoming case evaluation, he just looked over at me and said,
“Together we will…”
Together we will get through this. In that moment, I realized that I wasn’t alone. I have this partner, this incredible man, who is willing to fight this uphill battle with me. This is the other part of my reality and this is something I can cling to. His words. His loyalty to stick this fight out with me, his comfort during this turbulent time of my life, I will cling to. His love and support is a glimpse into the never-ending loyalty and protection Jesus offers to me, and to all of us.
You know I like to keep it real, so here it is…I couldn’t make it to this day without my God pushing me (sometimes very very hard) through each day. So whether it’s your partner or you God; look to this artwork and repeat “Together, we will”.
Thank you for sticking with me through my journey as a person and artist. The two have been entangled since the beginning.
Feel free to save these photos as inspo!
These pieces are from ‘The Serene Collection’ and are available (on 11.17.2020) through my shop ProjectTheraPaint.com/shop
Love,
