Psychological Resilience

By Yoko Uchima

In spring 2020, I was hospitalized for COVID-19. Even after my physical recovery, my mental shock from fear was still great. To free myself from a depressive mood, I applied myself to an approach of art therapy. These are the four of the seventeen pastels I drew during my ten-month mental recovery.

In drawing the hydrangeas, I was re-experiencing my chaotic feelings of anger and sadness caused by my suffering from pain and fever, which are expressed in the shapeless and maze-like petals. The petals, however, are anchored by clear and realistic leaves which represent my family, who supported me. That support brought back for me a feeling of security and gave me great satisfaction that my chaotic and odd feelings were eventually sublimated into a stable and beautiful flower.

The next drawing of the lotus flower, which is a symbol of purity as it grows beautifully from murky water, purified my mind and redirected my consciousness to the pleasure of life.

The “Manhattanhenge” on June 12th, 2020 was a shower of the universal energy which embraced my whole body and spirit. I was filled with creative passion.

The blue sky was my last pastel.  Interestingly, when I finished this one, I spontaneously felt “This is it, I am fine now”.

 

Through this activity, I was able to retrieve my mental balance and energy to accept changing reality just like the clouds in the blue sky and move forward to the next chapter.

At the same time, I deeply appreciate the selfless devotion of the medical team.