What I Wish I Had Been Taught About Art Series

The Power of Whimsy in Processing Trauma and Pain

We certainly need it in the world today

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Have you ever felt the joy of doing something just for the heck of it? That spontaneous need to participate in something fanciful and wonderful? Something that makes your inner five-year-old giggle with joy? It might be splashing in a puddle on a rainy day with your bright rain boots. Or twirling around in the sunshine on the first nice day in weeks It might be a toy, movie, book, song, etc. that instantly takes you back to the joy of a much younger age.

Doing something whimsical, something with whimsy, can be so freeing in the serious adult world. It can help remind you that life is short and that you should take the moment to enjoy it. It can help you take a break from the stresses of everyday life and just be for a moment.

And art can be the perfect way to inject a little whimsy into your life.

I’ve discussed the amazing benefits of art and the life lessons you can learn from it before. I’ve talked about how art doesn’t need to be fancy or high-brow and how I’ve embraced this ideology in areas like bubble art. I also recently talked about how you can use art to change your world.

Art can heal.

“Studies have shown that expressing themselves through art can help people with depression, anxiety, or cancer, too. And doing so has been linked to improved memory, reasoning, and resilience in healthy older people.” — The Healing Power of Art, Harvard Health Publishing

It can help us tap into and process feelings and emotions that we can’t describe in words. It can help us block out the rest of the world and focus on something beautiful. It can help us connect with ourselves and others.

And you don’t have to be a professional artist to experience its effects.

We all know that the modern world can be overwhelming and scary, especially right now. You might feel helpless to do anything and anxious about the future for yourself, your loved ones, and even strangers around your country and around the world.