“Unraveling”

2021 | 11”x15” | Mixed-media:
Prismacolor Verithin red/blue colored pencil, Derwent Inktense pencils, black ink, white charcoal, and water brush on cold press watercolor paper.

un•rav•el
/ˌənˈravəl/ v.
gerund or present participle: unraveling—
1. undo (twisted, knitted, or woven threads).
2. investigate and solve or explain (something complicated or puzzling).

When it comes to healing trauma, the process of unraveling the story can often feel so much worse before it starts to feel better.

But there’s something about lily of the valley—my birth flower—that reminds me how joy is just as inevitable as suffering. As sure as the night is the day. The gift of this flower in a bouquet was a reminder to the receiver that spring will always return. The hard work to open and become vulnerable is a delicate process that is always worth nurturing.