Martha Hall tells her story through a mix of words and art. But there’s something different in the way Hall shares her books versus most other authors, though I would refer to Hall as more of a creator or artist than an author. She uses a mix of different colors, shapes, words, and structures of the physical books to tell her story. There were some things I noticed that resonated with me specifically. The main thing I noticed would be how a lot of books had these dark swirling colors with slashes or scratches on it. The color was more like a dull grey/brown than black. It evoked these feeling of confusion, sadness, and pain. There was a time in my life about a year or two ago when I felt this way every day. I didn’t want to leave the house, or my room, or even my bed. I couldn’t sleep, eat, and some days I couldn’t even walk. Living was painful. It was like all of the energy was taken from me and I just didn’t know why. And then came the day when I realized that I wasn’t living any more. Something in me changed for the better. Though I could go into a lot more detail, our focus today is still on Martha Hall.
Although I can connect with the memory of that constant sensation of sorrow, I am no longer struggling with those feelings any more. Now why do I tell you this? Like it was discussed in my first blog, telling our stories can promote social cohesion. Martha Hall’s exhibit has brought our class, as a more specific example, together to connect Hall to ourselves. We come together three times a week to share things that we write. It’s possible we may not necessarily be sharing our own stories through our writing, but one thing we are sharing is our feelings. Consciously or subconsciously, we add our own feelings and emotions in our writing. Sometimes those things can be difficult to share, but it promotes social cohesion.
The exhibit we visited, and many other museums and galleries around the world, are there to bring people together. These creators make work so others can see it and connect to it. They want to help the audience understand their own feelings by sharing their work. When museums and galleries open, we allow ourselves to become more readily available for opportunities of growth, understanding, and cohesion.
You write about a very powerful text-to-self connection. And I think your point about it being hard to open up, is so true. But something about that vulnerability does bring people together.