A Picture is Worth. . . .

There is that one saying about a pictures worth . . . you know how it goes "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words "



This saying has been passed said in bar conversations, discussed between philosophers, and even had thesis written about it. While I won't be taking it that far I do feel like this saying has a very real interpretation for one of the main purposes of this blog. A lot of the art I have been looking at while doing some research about Cancer as Art and Art Therapy I have come to the conclusion that A picture is worth a Thousands Words if not a Million. This saying for the people who are using Art as a way to escape, interpret, define, and cope with their cancer is so profound.

For me being able to look at Cancer through Art Therapy has been a theraputic outlet. I know that sounds redundan, but it's the truth. I first thought of Cancer as this scary dark hole that people are shoved into to now seeing Cancer as more or less a beautiful exprience into your soul. This might sound a little over the top, but in the aspect of Art I feel like it fits. The images of art forms that I have seen are beautiful and breath taking. They allow you to see the good in something evil. There is no judgement and no outside element telling it what to do or how to act . . . It's just the creation of someone's perspective on how they feel about Cancer and what they are going through.

A couple neat sites that follow this post:

Art Therapy

Exploring creativity and the arts as a catalyst for healing & therapy.

Inspiring others to create.

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Art Therapy Without Borders

Cancer as ART

One of the goals I have for this blog is to find a connection with people and their families that have been going through or dealing with Cancer.

To me art is an AMAZING way to communicate and express how you are feeling especially if you don't feel comfortable or don't know how to talk about it. I love ART and I love trying to produce art (even though I might not be the best at it) and most importantly I love seeing how others produce Art especially when the end product of their artwork has a deep meaning behind it.

When I went online I found that Cancer and Art go hand in hand and there are a ton of advocates for using art as a form of therapy.

Here is one website that I found most interesting and there will be more to come:

http://www.arttherapyblog.com/c/cancer/

Oh no the word C-A-N-C-E-R

Since I nor anyone close with me has never been directly affected by cancer or a life threatening illness, I thought I could write about my experiences through discovering what cancer is and what people and people that are close with them go through when battling cancer.

My initial reaction to the word C-A-N-C-E-R is nothing but scary, sadness, death and the last thing that I would ever want to go through. I think as a society we are all terrified of this word. We are told by movies and society that Cancer is nothing but a dark cave that people get stuck in and then lost in and don't even try to think happy thoughts about getting out because there is no hope for you, so you might as well just stay there and die. I know that this might come across a little harsh, but lets be honest we have all felt this way about cancer at one point or another.

Since there has only been two people in my family that have had cancer and then died from it (but they were both very old) I don't know the real feelings that are associated with it. I have known close friends that have parents who have suffered from cancer and I remember how I felt towards what they were going through. It's a very surreal experience to see someone you know and have known as this healthy looking and full of life spirited person and then see them with cancer and the different stages of cancer and how it affects them physically and emotionally.

I know that the word Cancer is in the end just a word and the meaning that you place behind is what makes you have the different levels of emotion towards it. My hope through writing this blog will allow me to open my eyes to the meaning and not just the word.