They Saved Her Too

They say that when you create art, you leave a piece of yourself in it. This statement could not be more true for Marley Evans. As a young girl, she was always drawn to art. She loved to create it, and she loved to be surrounded by it. It was her gateway into different times. She loved to go to museums with her mother. She would get lost for hours mesmerized by the different colors and styles. Once, after carefully making sure that no one was around, she reached out and touched a painting of a woman crying. She found herself standing beside the woman. She reached out her hand to comfort the lady. The lady turned around and offered her a smile and said, "I knew you'd be back". Marley wasn't sure she knew what the lady meant, but she was overwhelmed with a feeling of familiarity. She turned around to see the faces of more curious observers. Her favorite part was seeing the wonder in their eyes as they studied to understand the painting in front of them. For the first time, Marley felt at peace as a mere observer of the world. She returned to the woman, sat beside her, and they looked out the doorway together. Marley asked the woman why she was sad. The woman explained that she was the personification of the ideas and emotions of her creator. She told Marley that her creator was lonely and sad because her husband had died. The woman represented her grief. Marley understood why people like looking at this woman, everyone can relate to grief. The woman carefully grasped Marley's hand and told her to be careful which paintings she went into. Some people depicted emotions that she would not easily return from. Marley wasn't quite sure she understood, but she nodded in agreement as she walked slowly toward the frame that leads to reality. She returned to the museum, carefully studying each face in the paintings. As she and her mother left the museum, Marley began to see people differently, each face was a work of art. Every person was an unpainted picture she was dying to create and experience.

As she grew older, her room began to look like a museum. She had begun to create her own pictures. The walls were covered in art, places of escape that she created for herself. Most of the places were by the water, where she would go to reflect. Each of her paintings reflected different pieces of her. There was a painting she would go into when she was feeling sentimental. It would take her to the last meal she remembered having with her parents before they divorced. It was a bittersweet memory, but she was able to sit at the table with them and appreciate the togetherness. It was always a hard memory to come back from for her. Another painting was of she and her best friend, Haley. She would experience freedom and bliss on the beach with Haley, it was one of her favorite places to be. There were paintings that she had tucked away from her first love that reminded her of the hurt and rejection she felt. She couldn't bear to part with them since they were a piece of her, but she could not bear to look at them, so she tucked them away. Each painting she created became more complex as she grew in maturity. One day she was painting with her mom and when she left the room to answer the phone, Marley went into her mom's painting. She was overwhelmed by the emotions she felt when she entered. For a moment the weight of the world was on her shoulders as she took on the emotions her mom had been repressing. She suddenly remembered the lady's warning from the first painting. She became aware that she could become stuck in these emotions, but it saddened her to think that her mom was always stuck in these emotions. She pulled herself out and rushed to clean up the mess from her painting while her mother was still out of the room. 

That night at dinner, Marley stared at her mother in wonder as she watched her smile. Her heart was saddened to think that behind that smile was overwhelming pain. It was then that Marley knew what she wanted to do with her life. What better way to change the world, than by helping the ones around us. She wondered how many other people felt the need to fake a smile because no one would ever be able to understand. Marley stood up, went over to her mother, and held her as the tears flooded down her face. 

Now, as an adult, Marley sits in her office high above the city. She had finally achieved her dream of becoming a world-renowned psychologist specializing in art therapy. Everyone else had left the office and all was quiet except the faint sound of the cleaning lady down the hall. She looked around her office at the awards and recognitions that decorated the walls and she let out a small sigh. She poured herself a glass of wine as she turned on her desk lamp to review some files for her upcoming patient tomorrow. As hard as she tries, she just can't seem to concentrate on the work in front of her, but rather her mind escapes to her memories from her childhood. She has spent most of her life sharing the emotions of others, but tonight it's her that feels a little overwhelmed. She pulls out a paintbrush, and she paints for hours. With each stroke, she releases the pain, hurt, and loneliness. With each color, she releases people from the traumas that she has been collecting. She looks at this masterpiece in front of her with awe. Paintings have only ever collected the emotions of its creator, but this picture is her biggest trophy.  These are the lives she was able to save, the hearts she was able to touch, these are the people she was able to make feel seen. It was when people saw her art, that she felt seen too. To her, this was better than any award on a wall. This was her way of saving people, and they saved her too.