“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty”
We take in the world through our senses: if we are too much in our heads – perhaps trapped in painful memories or negative thoughts and emotions – then we are not present. Perhaps we eat without tasting, look without seeing, listen without hearing, touch or feel with no memory of having done so. Psychotherapy, mindfulness, meditation, somatic therapy and creativity are all tools that bring us more into the present, experiencing the world through the fullness of our senses.
When we evolve emotionally and psychologically, how we perceive the world, how we want to be seen and how we relate to our environment, evolves too. It was while studying fashion design that I recognized how much personal and collective identity can be communicated through aesthetics. We might choose to hide in a world that does not feel safe, concealing our own splendor. Or perhaps we flaunt a version of ourselves that reflects something of what we most desire.
From a therapeutic perspective, sensory experience and aesthetics can be seen as direct modes of self-expression. Through creativity we communicate our hopes, dreams, trauma and suffering, ego, identity, belonging or diversity. For me, therapy can be poetry, music, architecture, dance, meditation or any other form of expression that supports the process of becoming our most authentic selves.
