Left Hand is Talking Right Hand is Nurturing (2021)

Photo credit: Empty cup Media

This collection of poetry and drawings explores the experience of moving past survival-mode in order to let go of false perceptions of self, building the capacity needed to reclaim a truer sense of self and identity. It is about the experience of living with inexplicable illness and pain, loss of memory, abuse, love, and loss. It celebrates the beauty of imagination’s power to heal the body, rejuvenate our sense of self, and teach us better ways of living.

In this book I reclaim common medical terms in order to bring them back to a more relatable human experience that can be felt and understood, offering instead the capacity to engage with the inherent needs that they represent. The poetry is an intimate and vulnerable portrayal of what it is like to live with and heal from trauma, while the drawings explore self awareness as a tool to understand our past, and improve our sense of wellbeing.

The title of this book refers to art therapy techniques of doing inner child work. Drawing with the left hand can reveal emotional memories as a way of bypassing memory gaps in order to understand and release trapped emotional responses from trauma that live in the lower intangible regions of the brain. Drawing with the right hand is a way of processing unconscious feelings onto the page so they can be consciously processed. The right hand can also have a dialogue with the inner child as a way to fulfill their unresolved needs, and offer closure to experiences that can feel irreconcilable. By utilizing this technique, the enclosed drawings both reveal the complexity of human consciousness and celebrate the mind’s capacity to reimagine and re-parent oneself, allowing for growth and transcendence beyond physical and mental illness.

This work illustrates the divide between lived experience and self knowledge—how we can come to know things that are undetectable, and in doing so, engage with them in order to understand and connect with the intangible parts of our minds. Using empathy and perspective, we are able to bridge this divide by examining ourselves through the lens of universal human experience. Here, we are able to relate to one another, find meaning, and cultivate the capacity to live healthier lives.

This book is an homage to the profound healing power that imagination can play in building new perspectives that are meaningful and significant—beyond mere survival.