Your
Knows Best
good to Back again. Another work book, another chapter, or simply a little additon to a daily with more tools to heal our wounds, trauma, and mental health.
Hi, hello.
Hi to everyone who is new to the OFF COLOR stories and recovery tools, hi to everyone who was curious to finally dive into this new release. „Your Heart Knows Best“ is here at the very best timing I could imagine. It‘s Valentine‘s Day—happy lovers day… happy self-love day. Happiest day of chocolate connisseurs, and happy every day, because love and sweet treats towards yourself should happen more than once a year. This is my box of chocolate for you. Not an extra effort of work, but a little trip into the world of art (of course) with one thing that matters the most: love. I don‘t want this book to be undersood as the only way to succeed, but more as a guide, inspiration, or friend you can turn to when you feel low and sad. The last books showed you how to start building a relationship with yourself through food, but also what art and color therapy can do with your mental health. I want to emphasize art here, too, because it has such a healing effect which we need to emphasize more. And I want to capture what beautiful impact love can have on our daily, too. The heart is an important muscle plus organ and it is not only important to keep us alive, but it also reminds us what matters the most to us.
We try to engage with things which bring us pleasure and good vibes. When we feel sad, we turn to things that make us feel better in an instant. All things are supported by the heart! We strengthen relationships, building an own relationship with ourselves, but we also carry love outside to the world. Spreading kindness. But what happens when the heart has a bad day, too? This can happen and we all know it so well. Heartache is real. The heart seems to be a mysterious thing which is capable of so much. Not only good emotions, but also bad emotions—shall we ignore them and nurture the good feelings only?
Don‘t be mad and curse your heart when ache comes and visits you—this is only your body communicating with you and your needs. Healing brings a lot of ups and downs—let‘s make this journey a less painful one with recovery tools for everyone and every age. Understanding your emotions will create peace and comfort which will make your daily so much smoother. Prepare yourself and you‘ll never have to worry about certain surprises. Live and love—that‘s all you have to do. The rest will follow along.
see you.
Hi, hello.
Well, we can definitely learn to deal with all of our emotions, since life is always suprising us with good and bad things. As much as we enjoy our good days, we need to learn to understand how to process and cope with negative emotions and pain, too. It doesn‘t sound like fun, but mostly, because we don‘t really learn how to process grief, pain, or trauma. There is not one perfect formular, but there are ideas I want to gather to make you feel lighter when the heart is heavy.
LOVE THE COLOR OF LOVE: RED THE HEART VS. THE GUT 4 SEASONS OF SELF-CARE ART WALK A MOMENT TO YOURSELF: BREATHING: SELF-LOVE
2-3 4-5 6 7-10 11
TALK SELF-LOVE LANGUAGE I LOVE NY CAMPAIGN ART WALK LOVE LETTER TO YOURSELF PICASSO + KANDINSKY ON COLOR COMMUNICATION
15 16-17 18 19-20 21
FEELS CHARLES M. SCHULZ AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE A MOMENT TO YOURSELF: BREATHING: COMFORT ZONE ART WALK EXPRESSIONISM
23-24 25-26 27 28-30 31-32
PAIN FEELING BLUE, FEELING DEEPLY: HSP
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A MOMENT TO YOURSELF: BREATHING: LOOSE TENSION 37 MOIROLOGISTS 39 ART WALK 40-41
EXCITEMENT SURREALISM HAPPY LIST ART WALK
44-45 46-47 48-49
OVERCOMING MOUNTAINS COMING OUT OF A FOG SLEEPING EXERCISE: PMR ART WALK CUTTING THE CHORD RITUAL MAKING IT COOL TO CARE
52 53 54 55 56
HEART PROJECTS LOVE NOTES CREATE YOUR OWN MATISSE HAPPY LIST
58-59 60-61 62
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THE COLOR OF LOVE
Red is not only a beautiful and bright color that creates a nice atmosphere, but it also feels warm and makes us think of one special thing: love. It doesn‘t matter where you live and who you are, sooner or later, you will see and understand that red and love belongs together like macaroni and cheese. For Valentine‘s Day, you see a lot of red gift wrappings, roses in all shades of red, and presents which symbolize love and admiration. It‘s an interesting color to investigate in actually, because red doesn‘t only stand for love, but in all diverse cultures, colors have a different meaning and importance. You might not like red in all of its shades, but it will always be famous for romantic things and everything that deals with love and heartbeats. Heartbeats says it best: red is a very emotional color that automatically draws attention. It is the first color of the rainbow, representing leadership qualities and a pioneering spirit. It is also a color that fits well when being in a competition, since it wakes you up and pushes you further. Romantic or not, we shall explore all the colors out there a little further. Let‘s open our hearts and minds for the color red. Of course there are plenty more shades to explore, but have you ever thought about these further? The following selection all belongs to the color family red 2
—which one is your favorite? How does it make you feel? Maroon: Maroon is a true shade of pure red, which means that there is no green nor blue light incorporated to achieve this color. Usually, one thinks of chestnuts when hearing maroon and it automatically transmutes the feeling of fall cosiness. It evokes relaxation and creativity, and it also provides courage and strength. Carmine red: Carmine red is a very intense bright red. A purplish-red pigment, made from dye obtained from the cochineal beetle, carminic acid, or any of its derivatives. Crimson: Crimson is often used to describe the color of blood, or the color of a really deep and beautiful sunset. To date, since crimson comes as a deeper and more vibrant version of red, it is often regarded as a symbol for vigor, passion, and courage. But it also gets the symbolic meaning of anger, lust, and ruthlessness. Cardinal: Cardinal is named for the robes worn by Catholic churchmen, but also the red chested bird in North America, symbolizing joy and hope. Rosewood: Rosewood is almost a pure red, similar to maroon, but in a deeper shade. The rosewood spirit is one of strength and vulnerability that signals a time of inner conflict. Burgundy: Burgundy is automatically associated with red wine coming from France, a slightly lighter shade than the color maroon. Here, with an addition of blue color. Burgundy perfectly evokes the feeling of ambition, wealth, and power. Magenta: Magenta is actually not red, but an equal portion of red and blue, so it ends up in this pinkish purple hue. It is vibrant and very cheerful, and with an equal part of two different colors, it has the best atributes to inspire: ít‘s the color of universal harmony and emotional balance which contains passion, power, and energy of red, restrained by the quiet energy of violet.
It is inspiring to see that one color contains so many shades and this brings along a lot of meanings and feel good factors. Not every shade might be pleasant to us, but knowing that there is a meaning behind everything makes the heart at least happy. This color story here is heavily focused on loving and positive emotions and with this knowledge, you can explore even more colors now.
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In life, we often face situations where we have to decide what‘s good for us or what we want for the future. Easy questions pop up, but also questions which depend on a serious and well-thought answer. You might have heard the phrase that you should trust your stomach‘s feeling/ gut or you should simply listen to your heart. We seem to understand these sayings, even though we do not really learn what‘s behind this saying. Is it just a phrase or is this something to invest deeper? Well, let‘s dig a little deeper and understand a saying that captures a lot of truth. What does it mean to trust the gut or listen to the vibes your stomach processes? The gut can basically be understood as our intuition—it is sensory and comes from the unconscious. It sends us messages in all forms, telling us that something is right or wrong. Gut feelings and vibrations are spontaneous and come from the gut area or third chakra. It‘s a beautiful and natural alarm clock to danger, but also a great invite to feel warmth and affection. It might not make a lot of sense sometimes, but it is important to not ignore this voice coming from your stomach area. It‘s either a bittersweet lesson, or a rewarding step into a right direction. When the gut is such a good care taker, does it even matter to listen to the heart then? Of course. The heart is always equated with love, being the emotional counterpart to the gut. It is a very present feeling which can pull us out of our comfort zones, which is important when it comes to achieving dreams and goals. It can very easily be translated with „I want,“ „I wish“ - an emotional supported attitude which can always change due to circumstances. When we listen to our hearts, we learn what feels good to us or what might feel good to us, daring a new path, to reach a goal. Whereas, the gut is our little surprising alarm clock when we need to test ourselves, if we trust a certain situation which may bring happiness or sadness. Both mechanisms bring lessons along, since they are powerful and important in our lives– sooner or later we will get to know and feel them.
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To make this a smoother experience, we can think about how to listen to both supportive tools. All we need is a little dedication, focus, and practice, of course. Let‘s pretend that there is a situation coming up which is new to you and you don‘t know how to move on and decide. What can you do now? 1. Find a quiet spot to focus and be by yourself for a little bit. When focusing and making decisions, it is important to be in a surrounding where you feel comfortable and free to sort your thoughts. Any noise or interruption brings discomfort which we want to dismiss as quickly as possible. 2. Stop time for some moments. This means simply interrupt what you are doing and gather all of your energy and consciousness for making a right decision. Make sure to clear your head, not only the physical thing which you were doing some seconds ago. Cut everything off for a minute and gather yourself. No distractions, full focus. 3. Focus through breathing. To find the easiest way to ourselves, it is important to leave all the ballast behind and take a deep breath. Inhale and exhale to find piece and calm. 4. Bring all your focus and awareness to your head. Think about the decision or question which brought you to this circumstance. Don‘t be emotional here—the head is not the emotional part, the heart is. Think about facts and think rationally about the outcome of your decision. Go through solutions and ideas. 5. Bring all your focus and awareness to your heart. The facts are clear, but what does the heart say to this? How does your chest feel when thinking about the question or decision? Sort through your feelings and try to understand your heart. 6. Bring awareness to your gut now. Connect your thoughts and listen to what your intuition has to say to this. Debate what the heart‘s decision together with the head‘s thoughts might feel for you. Going through everything from seperate perspectives, we are now bringing everything together. How does your gut area feel? 7. Do a final body scan. Sometimes, when facing difficult scenarios, we might feel a little tension throughout the body. Close your eyes and focus on what message your whole body is trying to tell you. Do you feel tense? Is there any part in your body aching? Focus on this area and try to understand what this part of your body is trying to tell you. Headache? Jaw tension? This might be a sign that you should reconsider or think about some facts again.
Your body is a beautiful messenger, telling you what is right or wrong for you in a weird way of communication, but so important and life saving sometimes. Connect closer to your messengers and learn their language to make better decisions in life.
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SPRING
Redecorate Start a garden Long walks outside Reconnect with nature Seek sunlight Spring clean—declutter Hydrate Journal Give yourself flowers Eat outside Coffee dates outside Meditate
SUMMER
4 Seasons Of Self-Care Bucket list Picnic Meditate Try new foods Journal Connect with mother nature Hike Pick up a new sport Hydrate Vitamin d Movement Nourish, eat all the veggies and fruits
FAL L
Meditate Slow down Discover the benefits of tea Do less Stretch Create a place of comfort Rest Hydrate Gratitude list Create routines Journal Pumpkin season
WINTER
Set a special highlight for each season! Fall: halloween, spring: donating old clothes, summer: a trip to the farmers market, winter: the holiday season.
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Aroma therapy Vitamins Slow down Make art Journal Reflect Candles for setting atmosphere, more light Stick to a schedule Cook stews, eat warm broths & soups Meditate Spa Reading
Robert Indiana—Love (1967) Let‘s start our little tour through the world of art with paintings and creations which demonstrate love, the topic we just covered together. You see the color red appearing a lot, the symbol of love, the heart, maybe a little childish or youthful vibe coming along, maybe a bit naive, too. But all in all, a warm feeling coming across when looking closer. Artists, no matter what age, gender, or birth place, all created something in the name of love.
Keith Haring—Untitled (1988) 7
Alexander Girard— I n t e r n a t i o n a l L o v e H e a r t ( 1 9 6 1)
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Charles M. Schulz —Peanuts 9
Yayoi Kusama—HEART (2013)
What has been your favorite art work from this little art walk? If this was a little too fast, turn back the pages and look at the selection one more time. Study the colors, the composition, or just enjoy these warm feelings. Whenever you crave a little warmth and loving vibes, revisit this chapter and connect with your favorite artist.
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Let‘s manifest some self-love, let‘s commit to ourselves, and especially create a comfort zone which we can always recall and run to when there is a lack of love and uncomfort disturbing your daily. Sit down, or lay down comfortably. Close your eyes and take a deep breath in and exhale slowly. Relax and take your time, repeat this sort of slow breathing. Speak some self-loving words to yourself, use some sweet adjectives which describe you, even if you don‘t feel like being the biggest fan of yourself right now. Know that words have an impact and the way you talk to yourself matters. I am loving, I am kind, I am full of ideas, I am strong, I am creative,..
Manifesting dreams? Well, you can use this also to manifest dreams, desires, and wishes for a new year or a new chapter. Speak it out loud in your mind and when done, keep these thoughts and emotions in an imaginary pink bubble. Quite romantic, right? Pink is the color that is associated with the heart and with this energy, your dreams and ideas about yourself are supported and translated into your real being. Once the bubble is set, let it float. Watch the pink bubble fly away from you… wave it good-bye and see how it leaves the universe: with your vision, your dreams, and your love to make tomorrow be the tomorrow you are dreaming of. The bubble is set free now and will only attract and gather the energy which helps manifesting your thoughts and wishes. Manifesting a better relationship with yourself to be the best version you can be. Let the universe work for you now.
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In Buddhism, color goes much deeper than surface decoration—it symbolizes the state of mind. Buddhists believe that meditating on the individual colors and their essences is a way to achieve spiritual transformation.
Blue, for example, symbolizes coolness and infinity. Oxymoronically, the emotion associated with blue is anger, but meditating on the color is believed to transform anger into wisdom. Red symbolizes blood, fire and the life force. It's associated with the notion of subjugation, but by meditating on the color, Buddhists believe the delusion of attachment can be transformed into the wisdom of discernment. The highest state of all is to attain "rainbow body," when mere matter is transformed into pure light. Just as the visible light spectrum contains all color, the rainbow signifies the awakening of the inner self to all possible earthly knowledge before stepping over the threshold to the state of Nirvana.
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let‘s be kind and loving to ourselves
SELF—LOVE LANGUAGE I am loved I am enough I am strong I am smart I belong here I accept myself I am confident I am worthy of a great life I am worthy of love I am great I am living to my fullest potential I am full of gratitude I am a positive light I am kind I love myself. I am doing my best I choose to be happy and to love myself today I am brave, bold and beautiful Today is going to be a great day I am talented and intelligent I am one of a kind I can and I will I am proud of myself and my achievements I am who I want to be I will not worry about things I cannot control I will take time to love and
care for myself I am free of worry and regret I am grateful for all that I have I am full of potential I am healthy I welcome happiness into my life All I need is within me I am ambitious I am connected to my mind and thoughts I will appreciate the small things and cherish them I will take breaks for me and my body to recharge I love taking good care of me I surround myself with people who support and love me I am prepared to take advantage of the great opportunities presented to me I will never give up on my goals and dreams I am a positive person who attracts positive situations for success I am wise and humble I am truly a beautiful soul I am respectful and completely self-aware I am more loving and more forgiving every day
„I l o v e N Y “ - M i l t o n G l a s e r ( 1 9 7 6 ) 16
I Love New York, or often also seen as I ♥ NY is a slogan and logo which is used to promote tourism in the state of New York. It is an advertising campaign which was created in 1977 by the marketing firm Wells, Rich, Greene. Today, it is the official state slogan of NY and it couldn‘t be better than this. The logo has a very fun birth story, since it was designed 1976 in the back of a taxi, which is even more stereotype when thinking of NY and its most famous city NYC. Milton Glaser, the designer, drew the idea on scrap paper with a red crayon. What many don‘t know is that the orginal sketch included the MoMA! For the art and font lovers, it is interesting to know that the graphic designer chose the serif typeface American Typewriter for the smoothest appearance on the logo. A year later, Wells, Rich, Greene was hired to create a marketing campaign for the state of NY and they worked on some ideas with the designer Glaser. His sketch was the base of the greatest marketing slogan which was also inspired by Robert Indiana‘s LOVE pop-art creation. No one knew that this campaign would be a game changer and until today it is celebrated, loved, and copied in several countries. The slogan was meant to be there for only a little bit, but today, we can admire this easy but vibrant design on shirts and merchandise which we can buy all over NYC, which has become more and more the representation of the slogan. How can something so simple like this be popular and make people smile beyond? There is something about NY and especially its citizens which cannot be grasped in one simple statement. For a marketing campaign, words have to be sharp and catchy. New York has a lot to offer—it is such an inspiring state and NYC has too many chapters to cover. What‘s better than just proclaiming the love one feels for the state to capture the real essence of this connection? New Yorkers are proud New Yorkers and they let you feel this is in any way, even though their love language is a little rough sometimes. It is inspiring to see that no matter how NY tough one is, the citizens proudly represent the cheesy and catchy logo that simply celebrates love and togetherness. Words make things very complicated sometimes— doodle a little heart to your message, decorate it with love, and spread it from the bottom of the heart. Maybe we can learn this from New Yorkers and a state that is the best example of self-love and cherishing loving moments, no matter where you are from and what you are doing. Love is all that matters!
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Frida Kahlo & Yves Saint Laurent‘s post cards
Communication and art. How does this work? We learned from NY‘s marketing campaign, but we can also spread our love for someone or something privately in a special way— write a letter or post card to a person you‘d like to share sweet words with. Love notes and post cards can not only be creative, but such a pleasant pick up whenever you feel low. These artists here felt an emotion and wanted to share this with a special someone. Let‘s add this to our to-do list!
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Sounds like a funny or maybe too romantic task, but ask yourself when was the last time you dedicated some pure and loved filled lines, just for yourself? There are so many reasons why you should be proud of yourself, love yourself, and simply feel good about who you are. Write a love letter to yourself, filled with positive and loving adjectives only to express the emotions and feelings you feel about you as a person. Some forget about their self-love in times of crisis and struggles. We can be really mean to ourselves and treat our bodies and beings with negative emotions, anger, and frustration. It is our duty to make sure that we are okay and steady connected with our surroundings. Just the way we feed and nourish ourselves with food, because we are hungry, we need to nourish ourselves with words to feel confident and simply good.
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We need to find more kind tasks which remind us that no matter what, there is always love.
Use some words from the self-care vocabulary and just let your thoughts escape from your head to the paper. Keep your love letter close to you and read it whenever you feel like you need a little extra love. Write more love letters when you need a special message and reminder during a certain occasion or event. Write a love letter to a loved person, send them a card, and just communicate your thoughts and offer balsam you would like to share for simple well-being. Everyone can use a little love, we are here to share and receive it.
Frida Kahlo‘s love letter
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In the early years of 1900, two artists decided to use a special form of communication, not by words, but by colors. Pablo Picasso started his journey in 1902 with his main focus on human misery, sadness, and distress. Here, he started mainly using the color blue to demonstrate feelings which was the turning point to make the color blue more than a basic shadow color. Living between Paris and Barcelona, the artist discovered all shades of blue and initiated the blue period of his art and paintings. Not only the color was talking a lot here, but also the characters which Picasso painted expressed more than sadness: women were portrayed sadly and wearing a veil to enhance the feeling of grief.
essence of love and friendship hiding beneath a clown‘s uniform. With painting softer and with more details, Picasso inivtes us to get to know the essence of life. Wassily Kandinsky decided to choose a special path, too. He left the world of objectives and came up with a new color and shape language. He formed a group called the blue rider, where the color blue symbolizes yearning spiritual completion. Kandinsky taught color studies at the famous Bauhaus school and he was a genius, when it comes to colors and their symbolism. He differentiated between physical and psychological effects and put the colors contrastive face to face. For example blue versus yellow: blue is associated with the sky, After a little recovery, Picasso slowly coldness, and calm— yellow which retransformed his mood and feelings to presents warmth, aggression, and edgy. something more positive by painting more pink shades in addition to the sad, Not a power couple, but some color tones just work together. but calm blue. So in 1904/1905, more brown and greyish pink shades come into It is interesting to see that there have bethe picture and the figures changed en people before us who desperately slowly too. We can still witness empty think about color and what it can express looking faces, no emotions, but the artist to the outside world. Especially translamoved also on demonstrating us real ting feelings seems to be so normal when people and their profession, just like his thinking about colors and their natural special periods of covering circus life and effortless way of communicating without harlequins. A funny symbol, but actually thinking. Let the colors talk. so much deeper to understand—it is the 21
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Is there anyone on this globe who doesn‘t know this group of young kids? All of them seem to be very emotional and moody thinking about life and what is going on in the world. These kiddos are loved and admired, doesn‘t matter in which language, but they have become cult figures and are simply celebrated for who they are or at least what they do: showing their feelings and being as human as they can be. But let‘s start from the beginning. We need to go back here to 1950, when America was in postwar celebration and the emotion of being unhappy was considered to be rather antisocial. Back then, a cartoonist from Minnesota was ready to shake up the classic cartoon and bring some emotional and real life vibes to creating newspaper comic strips. His name was Charles M. Schulz and he introduced the world to some kids called Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Linus. „I have deep feelings of depression,“ Charlie Brown said to Lucy. „What can I do about it? Snap out of it,“ advised Lucy. Talking emotions and especially negative emotions like depression in a comic was something new and Schulz was clever enough to speak from his own experiences and draw about the things he knows such as insecurity and inferiority. In his backpack where plenty of taboo themes to be discussed such as faith, intolerance, loneliness, cruelty, and despair. His chosen characters on the other hand where sharp and observed every situation well, talking about literature, art, psychiatry, law, or classical music. Schulz‘ way of communication is crystal clear, yet brave, too. He distilled human emotion to its essence. How beautiful it is to capture so much truth and knowledge in a tiny square with some circles and lines—catching the reader and student. Emotions being portrayed without judging, hiding, or making it look sweet—it‘s honest and this is what made the reader curious and supportive. Even though Charlie Brown and his friends don‘t exist in real life, it feels like Charlie Brown is a person we know, maybe showing a side of us, too. At the end, he felt to be taken seriously just like a human being, because he shows openly his real psyche and his problems. Charlie Brown said the things many kids where feeling at that time, but they weren‘t able to express these out loud. 23
"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." -Charles M. Schulz With Charlie and his friends being each others pick ups, therapists, and simply coping buddies, this new era of story telling, showing therapeutic patterns in form of art, and using real emotions to connect, was essential and important at that time and place. It was a breakthrough and until today this little insecure Charlie Brown is being celebrated as this brave kid who never hides his emotions. Many can identify with the characters that Charles M. Schulz used and created. It looks so simple and the topics are not even that abstract, but through a comic it looks more approachable and understandable. We all feel empathy with this kid and his ups and downs—but in real life we struggle a lot with our own communication and showing feelings. We tend to hide it more and suffer in silence. Would a comic help us translating our feelings? Again, it is beautiful to see that over 70 years, there has been a little boy who is trying to tell us that it is very okay to feel and to care.
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• •
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Take a walk and connect with nature, being grateful for everything you see. Be creative and make a collage of things you are grateful for and hang this up, so you see it often
Craft a gratitude jar glass Express your gratitude towards a person by calling him or her and sharing your appreciation Write a letter or card to thank someone — you can surely write this also to yourself: journal!
what are you grateful for?
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Life can be a little stressful and there are days where you might not feel well. You only want to lay in bed, sleep, or turn your brain off. Sometimes you cry, you feel anger, or you even feel a little lost and alone. For this, let us create a world where we will always feel good, loved, hugged, and free. It may be your kind of paradise or simply a comfort zone without rules and judgement—just you and feel good vibes. Close your eyes and relax. Imagine you are outside, connecting with Mother Nature. Maybe hiking in the mountains, running through green grass, or swimming in the ocean—it can be anywhere, anytime. Choose a surrounding which attracts you. Whatever surrounding you choose, make sure you are experiencing a quiet space. Calm and comfortable vibes. Look around, explore your wonderful comfort zone. Do you smell something special? Do you feel a certain emotion when looking around? Is there something fun or beautiful that catches your attention? Everything you can touch and smell, try to remember it well, and keep it close to your heart. Why don‘t you settle a bit further and make this place a little more comfortable?
In the mountains, for example, find a tree with lovely scents and build a tree house. At the beach, build up a tent and celebrate a night outside in nature. It is your world. Your comfort zone. Now gather all your energy into your feet. Take your time focusing and feeling it all streaming through your body. Let the energy flow back to your head through your whole system. The energy is floating with love and good vibes through your body, arriving at your head and simply sparking out of it like a little firework. Feel the energy of the firework and imagine the beautiful colors shooting out there creating nothing but smiles and pure bliss. Let the sparks fall down to your feet again and repeat the energy flow a few more times. Gather all your happy vibes from your comfort zone and transport them from your feet to your head to create a firework of love and comfort. Do this as many times as you please. 27
Elisabeth Hase— Crying Woman(1934) 28
Edvard Munch — Melancholie (1894) Today, when looking at images we share on social media and other platforms, they always seem to be positive and inspiring. People share the good stuff and never the negative, so that we think they have everything figured out and under control. Unfortunately, not everybody feels comfortable to share pain, sadness, and emotions in general, because they are scared to be judged and with this excluded and dismissed from social life etc. A world with positive images sounds good—why even complain? Well, because this is not life. Life is about all the ups and downs, the pains, and the ache one has to feel to learn lessons and move ahead. Even artists deal with negative phases and emotions which block their happiness—and what do they do? They capture it and share it with the world. That‘s why today, we have many paintings which deal with sadness, feelings of being lost, identity crises, and whatever the painters were feeling. Even better than that, art is so complex that the form of how to capture real emotions and feelings can always look different. Just like photography which shows all the realness, without using romantic colors or brush techniques which make us forget the actual pain. 29
Gordon Parks— Harlem Gang Wars(1948)
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In the beginning of the 20th century, a new form of art was introduced and celebrated throughout Europe. It was the period of expressionism which was mostly represented by Germany and France. Between 1905 and 1925, there was a lot going on in Europe, not only the First World War ending and bringing lots of misery, death, and griefing along. Artists were dedicated to express their feelings and emotions about the things they have witnessed or lived through in these hard times.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner — Szene Im Caf é (1926)
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focused on capturing emotions and feelings • vivid colors and bold strokes were often used to exaggerate these emotions and feelings. • showed influences from Symbolism •
Very important names from this special epoche are Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gaugin, and Edvard Munch— until now, you have met some of these guys in this book or at the very end, when finishing this, you will understand these artists better.
For now, let‘s learn more about the history of expressionism: the origin of the word expressionism is as easy as the logic behind it which we just covered. The Latin term „expressio“ means expression and makes it clear that their is a message behind every painting, expressing a certain feeling, emotion, or point of view. It‘s a form of spiritual expression, being as honest as possible, and using art as a tool of communication for broken hearts and dreams. Before that, it was popular to only look at the feelings from the outside which was bizarre for expressionist artists. It was superficial and didn‘t feel real to them, so they decided to invest deeper and demonstrate real feelings, which evoke emotional reactions from the viewer. In expressionist art there is no taboo, every artist is demonstrating his or her pain with topics that bring a lot of shadows and discomfort, too. Disappointment, grief, happiness, fatigue, pain, and angst—there is nothing that will be left out. The art shall simply be an extended mirror of the inside of the artist—blunt and real.
With the focus of feelings and what emotions go through the bodies, we are experiencing a very spontaneous brush stroke which is one classic characteristic of this epoche. Don‘t worry if the art doesn‘t make sense to you—it might not even made sense for the artist—the motto here is really feelings and emotions over realness. There is no exact painting, since the artist is painting in the moment, just how it is felt. The shapes might be different or simply rough, but in contrast we are treated with color contrasts which create their own special language. Again, reality is not like Mother Nature outside, but this way of abstract truth is the best way the artist can communicate to the viewer.
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Claude Monet— Blue Water Lilies (1916—1919)
Feeling blue is something we all know. We feel sad, we feel low energy, and we might feel like crying a lot. But looking at Monet‘s painting, using all this blue, how come we don‘t feel sad and lots of emotions? It somehow has a very cooling and calming vibe that feels like a push of inspiration and new light. Let colors speak!
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When growing up, we live through different phases and stages which is normal when becoming older. We have plenty of books which tell us that there is one way to grow up and there are many milestones described which we can always read and learn about—we will all have to go through sooner or later. But no one really tells us that not only our bodies‘ development, but our inside, our spirit, is developping in its own tempo and its own special ways. There is no guide to turn to, we just have to live with it and get to know our bodies like this. It‘s a long journey and funnily, we never stop learning about ourselves, no matter how old we are. It sounds like a lot of work, but knowing that everyone out there is dealing with their personal growth, makes it feel a little less heavy on the heart. We shall always remember that our outside might look the same and our natural growth is going smoothly, but we shall never forget about our inside—this is where we need to be alert, supportive, understanding, and loving—yes, towards ourselves. The person we are inside is essential to complete our external growth. Getting older, we might find a lot of stress when dealing with our insides, we tend to be overwhelmed, because who really understands what is going on inside of us? There might be a good amount of people out there who feel deeply and they don‘t know where this is coming from. Puberty? Hormonal issues? Well, it is simple put together—you are a highly sensitive person. Ugh, another probelm one has to deal with? No, not really. Maybe a super power which not everybody has and this makes one super special! Being highly sensitive means that one is easily drawn to energies, meaning that one person feels sad, one shares the same feeling together, even though one doesn‘t know the person or situation. One basically feels deeply. It sounds romantic, but it can also be very tiring, being sensitive to energies, moods, also noises throughout the day. This is still something that needs lots of research and studies to understand more and make life a bit easier for the ones who suffer from this, but know that being highly sensitive is nothing to be ashamed about. It‘s a great thing knowing already that crying a lot, feeling a lot, being moody sometimes, and feeling stressed when hearing people‘s conversations and noises outside is nothing crazy. Yes, it‘s you, and many might not understand your discomfort, but again it is your special super power. Your body is sensitive to special things and needs a little more self-care and moments of silence to recharge. Instead of being exposed to stress around you all day, your body basically protects you and says you should avoid crowds, spend some more moments with you, and treat your body with the things it really needs. Breathing exercises make this easier, but also lots of journaling, being active, and meditation to let go of ballast and bad mood. Not everybody is highly sensitive, but also the ones who suffer from it, don‘t even know that this is a special condition– so our duty is to spread the message and share this more. Less shaming and more connecting through the differences which make us unique and so special. Never be shamed of feeling a lot—it is all about how we control it and live healthy with it!
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This exercise is simply beautiful, because it is so very easy and you can do it whenever and wherever you feel like it. Sometimes, the day is feeling heavy and you have not been feeling well. Your whole body hurts or you feel lots of tension which makes you feel uncomfortable. No problem when you have this exercise. What we are going to do with this exercise is basically releasing our tight muscles and the tension that is naturally building up in there. Sit down on a chair or comfortable seat. Take it slow and focus on your breath. When finding a constant and slow breathing flow notice when you are inhaling and when you are releasing the air. With the next inhale, roll your shoulders up toward the ears. With the exhale, simply drop the shoulders back to the starting position. Repeat this as many times as you wish and notice how your breath is helping your muscles to loosen again. Do this regularly, even when you don‘t feel stressed or full with ballast. Do this in the morning to stretch well, or before going to bed to have the most soothing sleep.
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Can you make money out of your emotions and simply being in pain? That sounds weird and unimaginable, but it indeed existed and I believe it still exists in some cultures. In Ancient Egypt, it was common for women to be a professional when it comes to mourning and paying the right tribute to a deceased person. This was not only a profession in Egypt, but also China and in Near Eastern cultures. These moirologists and mutes, as they were also referred to, where compensated by simply helping to comfort the family and also entertain them through their An Ancient painting of moirologists in Egypt grieving. The women don‘t need to be in any relation to the family and the dead person, they were simply hired to join them through the whole funeral. Their main task was to mourn and doing this as loud and obvious as possible. Dancing, loud mourning, singing – just to draw attention to the dead person. The more women were hired to mourn and grief for money, the more one knew how rich the family was to actually invest in such a ceremony. For the ritual and whole ceremony they wore simple white dresses without any jewelry and they clapped their hands together, also on their bodies, throwing around themselves with ashes, pulling their own hair, crying, and receiting prayers. It is a pure emotion that makes sense when griefing about a dead person, but it feels a little absurd when thinking about hiring a stranger to play this part. Nevertheless we can learn that the process of grief and coping with all your heart and essence is something that needs to be done to move on and start new chapters. There is so mucb to be learned from ancient cultures—we do not need to feel ashamed, but we can feel highly invited to create our own rituals to mourn, connect, and learn to deal with our emotions.
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Pablo Picasso— The Weeping Woman (1937)
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Roy Lichtenstein— Frighten Girl (1966) Another approach to visual pain in art which is actually supposed to give us a good feeling and stimulation. How does this work? As we already learned, artists do not longer hide their real feelings and demonstrate exactly what is on their hearts. Some visuals which were created in times of pain, just like Monet‘s Blue Water Lilies are one of the most famous and most copied art prints today. Does this mean that pain can bring us pleasure? Well, maybe we connect with the artists. Maybe we go through the same feeling and feel very connected through the art to heal and start new chapters in our own lives. Picasso painted a weeping woman, but his painting doesn‘t feel like pain and it doesn‘t leave an impression of discomfort. It has a positive spirit which is definitely supported by his color choises and also the expressionist style that makes this painting look edgy and interesting. Lichtenstein does the same, but in a more obvious, but yet inspiring way. The woman is obviously crying and feeling scared, but the colors and the comic style doesn‘t leave a negative impression—it feels so normal that we actually connect with her. What do you think? 41
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The first years of the 1900s were a massive flood of art, literature, philosophical and political thought. Society was driven by their interest to explore and invest further. One person who shaped this time a lot was an Austrian guy called Sigmund Freud—he was a neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. In many of his writings, he reflected on the human being and what is going on inside our brain. Today he is famous for his associations with dreams and their meaning, but back then, he was starting a little rebellion, when more people learned through him about higher forms of truth are to be discovered in the unconscious.
Paul Klee— Forest Witches (1938) 44
This not alone, but also the aftermath of a horrible world war, made people start to wish on escaping reality and really exploring what is out there. Society was thirsty to rebel, too, breaking free from patterns, and explore what the unconscious might want to tell us. More and more artists, writer, and creatives, started to deal more with their dreams, escaping in their perfect dream world and helped freeing their psyche to reach full fulfillment of their creative potential. A movement that spread fast through Europe, inspring and showing abstract and new forms which were unknown. Letting emotions and feelings speak—escaping from today and just listening to what feels good to oneself. This is something we can definitely learn from Surrealism art. It might be crazy, maybe a little too abstract for some, but actually it is the perfect • dreamy scenes visual therapy to let go of ballast and • unexpected and unlogical cenarios frustration and just let creativity in • spontaneous expression again. • playful painting to create effects This creative world is all about letting • iconography go, feeling deeply, and living with • taboo topics, such a sexual context • childish designs your own standards and the things that make you happy. Setting yourself free or at least escaping to a comfort zone you can visit when feeling sad. Maybe you will find a little inspiration from Surrealist artists and painters, having a special painting which can always pick you up when feeling sad and depressed. Even further than that, you can challange yourself and feel inspired to be your own Surrealist artist by drawing and imitating the art of the big players from back in the day. Escape reality for a little bit and enjoy the ride with all the brushes and colorful strokes.
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How beautiul it is when there is a day when we feel complete happiness. A feeling we never want to miss and rather want to keep forever than letting go sooner than we can imagine. This is life—we cannot feel super happy every day, there are times where we feel sad and don‘t want to smile. But why do we have to go through so much pain? Again, pain is an emotion, it belongs to life just like the spark of joy you feel when eating candies. We cannot dismiss pain forever, but we can learn how to process it and make pain feel less painful. Here, the happy list might be a good help to always have a plan on hand when feeling lost and upset. In situations like this, we cannot think of solutions where to get healing from, so it‘s good to prepare such a thing always ahead or over a several amount of time, gathering things which always give you great comfort. A happy list is perfect to fastly understand what thing you need in the moment you feel negative emotion. What can you do to feel a little better, making healing less painful? Is it music? Is it your family? A movie? Or maybe some art which soothes you? Write it down.
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nature, being outside
not sleeping enough
my friends
negative words
my family
fighting with loved ones
my favorite music
conflicts
a hug from my mom
jealousy
baking a cake
comparing myself
reading books
self-doubt
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Henri Matisse— The Snail (1953)
How great it is to be a dreamer and dream yourself away sometimes… Things don‘t need to make sense, they can be as satisfying as you wish them to be—all in your own rules and possibilities. Matisse surely knows how a snail looks and this is his way to translate this ideas and dreams with scissors, simply cutting paper. Thinking about snails, do you feel happy? How about the colors below? Don‘t they just scream for excitement?
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Gordon Parks— Untitled, Harlem,
New York (1948)
Even better, excitement and pure pleasure doesn‘t mean that it needs to be captured in bold and happy colors in a very special technique, no, excitement and positive vibes can be captured with any medium, covering any topic. Gordon Parks and his Harlem photography shot gives you a lot of moments which you can see and feel even though there is no color for enhancing laughter or community spirit.
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There are days where we are excited to go to bed, falling asleep, and having the nicest dream waiting for us. Other days, we feel too energized to sleep or we struggle to find calm and silence to rest and sleep well. Counting sheeps is not the best solution for everyone, but somehow we grow up not really knowing how to help ourselves falling to sleep. How about the Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) - an idea we can all practice in our beds without any tools and much effort. The muscles will be tensed for a moment and followed by release to relax and stimulate the body. Loosing all the tension which might have gathered throughout the day! This will be relaxing for anyone, any age! 1.
Raise your eyebrows as high as possible for 5 seconds. This will tighten your forehead muscles.
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Relax your muscles immediately and feel the tension drop. Wait 10 seconds.
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Smile widely to create tension in your cheeks. Hold for 5 seconds. Relax.
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Pause 10 seconds.
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Squint with your eyes shut. Hold 5 seconds. Relax.
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Pause 10 seconds.
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Tilt your head slightly back so you’re comfortably looking at the ceiling. Hold 5 seconds. Relax as your neck sinks back into the pillow.
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Pause 10 seconds.
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Keep moving down the rest of the body, from your triceps to chest, thighs to feet. If you notice you are sleepy already, then you are allowed to close your eyes right now and sleep.
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There are days where the sunshine is out and everything feels peaceful, warm, and just perfect, but as soon as we experience cloudy days, we feel sad, messing with our energy and routines. Not only the weather is messing with us, but life, too. The weather is a very good metapher for our life—every day can be different, things around us change, and life is simple happening, just like the weather. After the rain comes a lot of sunshine—once our dark clouds leave us, we move on and shine again as bright as the sun. There will be many moments in life where we will feel like a dark cloud, dealing with emotions, maybe even grieving about losses—it can be anything, but it is okay. We have to understand and accept that life is what it is and it is okay to not feel okay. When experiencing a fog, a period where you don‘t feel like yourself, or you are grieving, or you feel a little lost, sick, or simply tired, there are certainly ways to let this behind and start a new chapter again. Just think about the sunshine which will come again to pick you up and make you smile. What can we do to get out of our fog? 1. Our days may feel a bit off, unstructured, or chaotic. It‘s time to cleanthe mess, may it be physical or emotional messiness—establishing a working routine is so important for your mental and physical health. The brain loves routines and doing the same things over and over—stimulate your senses and plan a routine how you will live through your day. 2. To let your body fully enjoy getting back to a healthy routine, it is also important to take a close look at your nutrition. Vegetables and fruits have to be on your menu every day to feed your mental well-being. 3. Boosting your energy again means a lot of happiness chemicals are being produced in your body—the easiest way to start producing these is by exercising—move your body, go outside and explore Mother Nature. 4. For your steady routine, add a little pick me up playlist with songs which can only make you smile and dance. Dancing, singing, and jumping around can create lots of happiness—even if you don‘t feel like it, blast the music and let your body decide how it will respond to this. 5. When being isolated a lot, it is important to slowly establish connections again. Connect with a family member, a friend, or person you trust deeply. Open up and start talking about what is on your mind—shared pain can be very healing, too.
Take it slow—know that you have the potential to shine again. Step by step! 52
PMR Sleep issues can occur any day, any time of the year, and at everyone‘s bed. Maybe you fell asleep beautifully, but now after a nightmare, you cannot find calm moments to fall back to sleep. Maybe you experienced a tough day and still think about the day in bed, being unable to cut off thoughts and to simply unwind. Here it is important to know that this is life, it‘s normal, it can happen, but even more important is to know how to deal with insomnia. There are many practices that can help us finding back to sleep, just like PMR— Progressive muscle relaxation. It is here to help control stress and anxiety and with this relieving insomnia and sleepless nights. This practice will focus on tensing or tightening muscle groups to be followed by a relaxation phase where the tensed areas are released again. When the body is feeling relaxed, mental calmness will follow up which leads to falling asleep. Let‘s get to this practice. We will move from muscle group to muscle group, ideally starting at your head, moving down to your feet. 1. Inhale, contract the first muscle group—it is always great to start with raising the eyebrows, followed up by loosing tension in your cheeks and jaw through simply smiling—for 5 to 10 seconds, then exhale and release the tension in this area 2. Give yourself 10 to 20 seconds to relax. 3. Move on to the next muscle group, contract it for 5 to 10 seconds with a big inhale, and exhale, releasing the tension. 4. Give yourself another 10 to 20 seconds to relax again. 5. As already mentioned, work yourself through your body, creating tension in different areas—from your eyebrows to your cheeks, shoulders to triceps, stomach to hips, until you have reached your feet. 6. Always switch from creating tension, to let go and relax. As soon as you feel sleepy, you are allowed to stop the practice and let your body finally rest. Tensioning so many areas, you might be already relaxed enough when reaching your shoulders or such, so don‘t pressure yourself to go through your whole body. 7. Also it is a great tip to start always with your head, because many sleepless nights come from tension in your jaw, head, or neck—so once this area is worked through, your body might already feel much better! Feel better and happy sleeping!
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PMR
Korean artist Yoo Young-Kuk is the best example for an artist who can transform an obstacle or a little fog that comes our way into something that can help us actually overcoming this momentum. We respect mountains, their big and mighty appearance, and we love to speak about them in metaphors, calling problems mountains we need to overcome and leave behind. But what if the mountain itself is a beautiful thing to work with instead of working against it? A beautiful life lesson with colors, excitement, and stories for our hearts. What do you think?
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cutting the c h o r d s Is there a problem which you have been carrying with you forever? Maybe there is some ballast on your heart which makes you feel sad a lot and you‘d love to get rid of it. Yes, there is a lot we are actually carrying with ourselves, sometimes we do not even notice it. Any emotion which doesn‘t serve us can manipulate our mood and feelings on a daily. This is why it is important to be the gardener of our garden of emotions, feelings, and happenings which shape us. We want our flowers to bloom, being full of energy, and only soaking up nourishing light.
Step 1 To perform this ritual, you will need a piece of black string, yarn or cord and a piece of paper with a pen of your choice.
Take small piece of paper and write down your name and take another piece of paper and write down the problem, the emotion, or another person‘s name—it depends on what you want to let go of: old friendships, a problem, a sorrow, an old pet of yours, anything! Step 2 Next, you will need to roll up each piece of paper and tie them onto the opposite ends of your cord. At this stage, it is very important that you visualize the connection and see it in your mind’s eye. What does this written thing on paper mean to you? Is there a certain emotion that connects you to this person, thing, or feeling? Feel it deeply now.
Step 3 When you feel ready, you can cut the cord with a pair of scissors and sense the emotional connection fade away slowly. You can also use a candle to burn the cord in half as fire represents the healing process. With cutting the chords you do not only physically say good-bye to this person or feeling, but you are preparing your mind to let go, demonstrating that you are ready to move on and start a new chapter.
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Time to dismiss “don’t be so sensitive” and turning this into a call for being more sensitive, connecting with others with the help of emotions. Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh is the perfect example of a sensitive artist who saw the world differently than those around him and suffered for it. He ironically only gained artistic notoriety only after he died. The whole world knows him today… he is celebrated and many admire him for his spirit, his thoughts, and his ability to feel so deeply. Let‘s make this a common nature we shall all share in this crazy and hectic world.
making it
t o care
1. Being sensitive is a strength. Simply shift your perspective on this. 2. Start your practice with simple conversations. Ask people about their lives
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4.
5.
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outside of work, understanding what is their routine and usual daily. Listen with your heart, gut, and your head. We should be happy about having those three options to make sincere and deep felt decisions. Taking deep breaths, we find to our body‘s center, helping us to feel what is right or not right in this moment. The gut and head as we learned have a different relationship to our emotions, but they help deciding and analyzing, too. Allow yourself to feel with others. This doesn’t mean you get lost in the negative emotions. Just notice the sensations. Then, without judging or trying to rescue people, ask if they know what caused them to feel that way. You basically demonstrate authentic empathy. Offer your ears and let the person open up. Notice when you feel uncomfortable with a person’s emotions. It‘s good to care, but sometimes all of the negative emotions from others can create tension and anxiety in our bodies, too. Know your boundaries, communicate them, but offer support to find someone who can deal with the situation in the right manner. This is just natural. Never loose hope. Let the person know you want the best for them no matter how things turn out. You believe in their capabilities. Some encouraging words are sometimes the best start or even the best advise to deal with emotions. A listening human being who shows affection can bring peace and helps solving issues which might seemed unfixable. During the process, be kind, be loving, and be patient. Try to use the right words, a loving language is the key! Practice gratitude and offer future support or further conversations to let the person decide what pace he or she wants to open up.
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PROJECTS
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p r i n t
m e
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oui.
Remember this cool creation from Matisse—“The Snail“? A Surrealist dream and such a catchy art work which can only bring happiness and smiles along. Don‘t worry if you might have fallen in love with some of the paintings in the previous chapters. We cannot have them all, especially not the originals, but we can surely try our best to create our own copy cat version of it. Not only to decorate our homes and add some dreamy, surrealist touches to our four walls, but as we know, painting art is healing. Who is ready to create their own special Matisse painting? Let‘s bring the snails to our homes! 60
We are working in a square format for the snail creation, so prepare any paper or cardboard in your preferred size. Just focus on the same length on each four sides. How about 40cm x40cm? Now we‘ve got two options to get started
1
paint this with a brush with the help of water or acrylic paint
cover yourself with colorful cardboard and let‘s craft, cut-out style, like Matisse
2
No matter how you start, prepare a beige base on your square.
Now start painting by starting with the orange frame with the sharp edges. Make sure to feel dreamy as Matisse was and don‘t paint too perfect! Unperfect lines are the rule here! Paint figure after figure in all the colorful shades. Play around and also use your favorite color if you can‘t find it in this painting. When crafting, selet your sheets of paper or cratfing paper, and tear them along for the orange frame. Glue them on the square and while this can easily dry, sketch the figures on your paper, cut them out, and then finally glue them on your square as well. Below, you can find the shapes to copy them easier on your own paper!
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