Do you have pictures in your head?

We can all relate to the pictures in our heads.  They are a kind of shorthand way of communicating our feelings -:)  to others.  We as writers and poets make a practice of externalizing our thoughts and feelings by linking relationships to our symbols. We explore ideas about birth, death, sex and just plain surviving. We look for unusual ways of representing our thoughts.  We look for metaphors. We all play with the pictures in our minds.  Some we hide away from everyone else. Some we even hide from ourselves. We move them around in our heads until we have come up with a plan to fix ourselves even if we don’t know what is wrong. Every mark we make on paper can be read as a symbol of our unconscious. Even those of us with severe language disabilities can draw what is bothering them.    

All young children and older adults love to draw the sun, moon and stars. And later, they may get the confidence to draw rainbows, houses and trees.  We all feel terribly pleased with ourselves when we communicate successfully. We feel less alone in the world when we can communicate. It doesn’t seem that long ago when Michael Jackson wrote “We Are the World.”  Even though he is no longer part of our world, we will always be part of his music and video world.  We are the world is such a phenomenal thought. One we need to appreciate. The pictures and music Michael reproduced for us can all be traced back his past experiences. Even Thriller came out of his past somehow. Every artful project like videos, sculptures, creative writing and poetry present a kind of spontaneous dialogue between our conscious and our unconscious. I imagine even Picasso’s art represented him bringing his two worlds closer than most.  Maybe, his abstract use of female body parts and symbols reflected his inner turmoil.

Pictures and symbols when materialized outside our heads can help explore self-image and provide a welcoming vent for feelings of anger, depression, fear and love/hate relationships even anorexia. For instance, when we dream of flowers, they can be a symbol of emotional and spiritual health. Brightly colored, healthy flowers may indicate energy in life while faded flowers can indicate sickness. Symbols do not lie. They carry with them universal truths we all can depend on.