I have a beautiful vintage box decorated with an old world map that holds my tubes of paint.  When I open it, the sharp and distinct smells of oil paints make me nostalgic.  Setting up is part of the process; draping my dining room table in paint stained canvas, laying my brushes out, filling up three containers of water with different amounts of turpentine in each and positioning my canvas in the right angle, to catch the right light.

I painted today because I needed to slow down.  I needed to stop my racing mind that was contemplating all the life changes and decisions that were just around the corner.

As I listened through my playlist from Dvorak’s Symphony No.9 in E Minor to the latest Bollywood songs to Ed Sheehan, I escaped into a linear thought pattern.  I focused intently and intentionally on the work before me, as I mixed blues and white with purples to create the perfect sea scene.  I blocked out other thoughts and other emotions and felt only what was before me.

Is this not some element of art therapy?

It was the intentional use of art to create a new pattern of thinking.

I can’t wait to work with our team to create a Art Therapy program for patients with palliative care needs.  Imagine them swirling their paint brushes in vibrant hues of red, orange and green, like a child in art class, creating something in response to the therapist’s strategically asked question.  Imagine them connecting to an emotion that they may be suppressing or a desire unrealized.  Imagine them showing it to their family, something that they might cherish even after their passing.

Though there is evidence to support the therapeutic use of art therapy, it seems more basic than that.  The core of human expression is through the arts, whether we appreciate it or participate in it.

Our patients will do both.