3 years ago

3 years ago I was traumatically whiplashed. Spiralling down a dark rabbit hole of severe neck and upper back swelling, body pain and emotional trauma prevented me from painting. I could not read, write or function well enough to find the right words to talk properly for over 8 months. I had trouble with balance which made walking a chore. I had to relearn everything from comprehension of the written word to doing a tai chi set (this took a full 3 years). With anger towards the fool who injured me and depression from being immobilized with pain, I felt as though on a sinking ship with no life preserver. I'm thankful my husband stood by and encouraged me every trying step of the way to recovery. Today I can say my brain has mostly healed, except I still lose composure and swear a lot, my body still has a way to go and I keep working on recovery exercises. Books make sense again so reading these past few months and being able to paint again is ecstasy. My neck still swells when I paint, or lift any weight over 4 pounds. so all in all though I  have to be very careful of my posture and not hold my arm up for too long a period I am back playing with the wonders of paint. Following are a few images I painted in the last month in a small sketchbook of handmade paper.