Azhar Alhashim is a hard-working dedicated female paramedic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her artwork titled “Untouchable” appears in our Fall 2022 issue.
The blues affect everyone, as Amanda Hage points out in her studio art piece “Feeling Blue” (Intima, Spring 2022). Understanding what affects our mood and causes a lack of energy or a feeling of unease or turmoil allows us to think about the solutions that can be put in place to get better. Some factors can be easily resolved, but others require a lot of introspection and external support—and sometimes, just acceptance.
Feeling blue is part of everyone’s life. This inner turmoil can cause significant suffering with a real deterioration of our daily functioning. It is important to be able to talk about it, and not to retain all of it within us. For some of us, we talk by expressing ourselves through our creativity.
Creative activities require concentration. They activate our skills, engage our emotions and allow us (me) to move forward. Allocating oneself to a form of creative art is to find a medium through which we (I) evacuate our (my) stress (as in my painting is “untouchable”). We can consider what was weighing on us at that moment and try to overcome it in a healthy manner.
When we create art, there is a kind of an automatic effect. The mind focuses on the work done, free of negative thoughts. When we create something with our hands, we put ourselves on pause. All the everyday things that trouble us are temporarily put aside. We are in the moment.
The lasting lessons learned come from our from hardships. Analyzing what we can do better next time. Creativity requires us to work on ourselves. The brain serves to allay the breaks of the heart, and the heart moderates the inflexibilities of the mind. In understanding who we really are and what drives us deeply and not what those around us want, we will be able to overcome difficulties or welcome life’s events with serenity. We can only try to evolve and become stronger.
We are sensitive beings. Our emotions are important, useful and vital, and if you are unhappy, it is an invitation to reflect. Each negative emotion you feel should push you to analyze what is wrong and how to fix it. Sometimes we can’t fix it. But we cannot suppress an emotion: once that emotion has been expressed and felt, it persists and continues to vibrate, even if you no longer hear or feel it. Through our art we try display what has been lived and felt.
Azhar Alhashim is a hard working dedicated female paramedic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her inspiration comes from living and experiencing all facets of life. Art is a beautiful way to express and share pain, sadness, uncertainty, pleasure and happiness. Her artwork titled “Untouchable” appears in our Fall 2022 issue.