It all started with @whatamidoing getting feisty in Discord about art being medicine. Is it always? Or is it just for the sake of art? Does art really heal? I think after reading all these posts, I can definitely agree that art in many forms is a way to express our innermost selves, connect to others, calm and soothe us, and give us escape when life gets tough. It also made me realise how many talented Steemians we have here that cross over into many niches - art, diy, writing, building, photography - and #naturalmedicine. Thanks everyone for your entries - it was tough as usual, but I had to go with the posts that bared their souls just that little bit more, diving deep into the themes, as well as stories I hadn't really heard before from you. Detail was definitely a deciding factor. It was really cool to meet some new artists as well, as well as see artworks from some of you that I hadn't seen before, such as @minismallholding's stunning sewing work!

The Posts

We Walked Out of Pre School Holding Hands by @bia.birch
Art is Healing by @kaerpedium
Creating and Art as Perpetual Healing Meditation by @alchemystones
Art is Healing by @crosheille
We Are Walking Pieces of Art by @fenngen
Healing Myself Through Words by @trucklife-family
How I Fought Homesickness by @olivia808
How Art Can Heal Past Wounds by @minismallholding
Art Brings Us Closer to Who we Are as Creators by @whatamidoing
Therapeutic value of Photography by @porters
Art is Healing by @marbley
How Redisovering my love for Art Helped Me Gain confidence by @cottoncandyheart

Thanks to all the entrants. A reminder that to qualify, you needed to burn 100 Lotus and let @riverflows know. This helps with the LOTUS ecosystem - and all entrants recieve something for their efforts in the form of resteems and 100 percent upvotes. The best ones also get shared on Twitter. We needed 10 posts to give steem away as prizes - we got 11, so that's awesome!

The Winners - 20 Steem Each!

We awarded @fenngen, @whatamidoing, @minismallholding and @kaerpedium and @herbalist-fox 20 Steem each. To be awarded, it wasn't enough to just talk briefly about your art, but really get into the concept of 'art as healing' with some depth and thoughtfulness, which these Steemians did. Thanks for your insights! Please check your wallets for the prizes - and if you haven't burnt LOTUS for the win yet, please do :P xx

@fenngen wrote:

Any form of expression, any moment that allows you to connect with others, yourself, guiding entities, the divine, love or whatever is meaningful to you is art. Therefore, and I return to my first statement, we are all artists. Even if you choose to hide, you will connect with some part of yourself as long as you pay attention to the moment. When we see it like this, we can also understand that art is medicine because that is what healing is all about: recovering lost connections, as well as finding new ones. A wound is nothing but a severed connection, whether it be of the tissue or of the soul. To heal it we must find ways to bring back what has been separated. And even if it can’t be restored to its previous form, there is always a path to transmuting it into something new. So be aware of the art you are creating, right now in this moment. What connections are you creating? Which are you restoring? Are you creating new wounds? It’s all part of the story you came to tell, a story that is without doubt a unique and irrepetible piece of art.

@whatamidoing wrote:

So for me the journey of "becoming an artist" is a journey of healing. I learned to clear my mind and meditate because I wanted to be better, and what I discovered on the other side was a creative being that had been covered up and struggling to breathe. I learned to act on inspiration, to not worry so much and not have any regrets and appreciate the flow of things. That flow...it's the same flow that a freestyle rap will tap into, the same flow that leads to brilliant works of fiction and otherworldly paintings and designs or films that hit you at your core. It a process of untangling where all the tightness that leads to illness can loosen up. Through art we can explore the self and find tight knots to untangle, old trauma or fear that has been buried. As we share the process of untangling, it can help others through their own untangling process. Or maybe we explore an aspect of ourselves which is peaceful and divine, and that can lead to a creation that will heal those who can let it in. I see no difference between art and play and healing. It's just a matter on where it comes from, the closer it is to your core, the more it all looks the same. But there is still value in everything along the way that helps us find that core!

@minismallholding wrote:

Through writing I can take churning thoughts, write them down and start to make some sense of things. Recently, for the first time I decided to put into writing the childhood experiences that kept coming back to haunt me. It’s something that's often advised, but I only ever gave it a half hearted attempt and saw no use in it. This time, rather than just noting down the facts, I actually started to put the feelings into words as well, putting myself back into that child at the time. I started to recall things I'd buried in the recesses of my mind and finally began to make connections that I'd previously not understood. I tore open those wounds, cried a river and slowly put myself back together again, finding forgiveness where resentment lay. So often art is dismissed in our modern society as being unproductive. We are discouraged from it unless it can earn a living and only a small niche are able to do so. Yet more and more we are seeing how healing it can be.

@kaerpedium wrote:

as long as I am able to express and it makes me feel.... I don't want to say feel good because sometimes it does make me sad, or mad but that feeling has found an outlet. And letting go is the start of healing. Writing & Storytelling has definitely made me more comfortable in my skin. More accepting of who I am. All of me, including my flaws. That I can at least give it a voice, an outlet, an escape.

@herbalist-fox wrote:

Re-connecting with my artist self made me find myself again. I've stopped judging myself too hard, learned to love what I created and, as a result, I've learned to love myself again. I've quit all medication, since I didn't really needed it. I continue to express myself everyday though various ways, without pressuring myself too much, without allowing my brain to compare myself to others. And with this, I've discovered that unintentionally I have also inspired other people to create art, to express themselves. Art doesn't need to be pretty, to be perfect, because art it always an expression of our inside, of our feelings, of our ambitions, of ourselves.

We thank everyone for their insights and entries!

What does art as healing mean to you? Write a detailed comment below for an upvote from @naturalmedicine for your thoughts! xx

Earn Instantly For Writing Good Natural Health Content

If you would like to earn LOTUS and STEEM rewards for sharing your natural health content on www.naturalmedicine.io, you can sign up for an free FREE account by emailing welcome@naturalmedicine.io. Read more about us on our Welcome Page. We support writers sharing about herbalism, TCM, yoga, meditation, vegan and other healthy diets, as well as earth centred practices such as foraging, permaculture and biodynamics.

We need YOU! Please consider delegating to help keep this collective going. The minimum entry for membership is 20SP (free for members under 150SP), and helps give YOU upvotes, contests, meditation sessions, an awesome discord support group, and so much more!

50SPII100SPII200II300SPII500SPII1000SP