Glory in the Storm Framed Print

9x12" framed print with hanging wire, ready to hang

When I was a kid, I retreated into my inner world often to escape from painful and chaotic situations going on around me. I also experienced selective mutism, which means that I would have moments of such intense anxiety that I would be unable to speak, even if I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I came to believe, deep inside of me, that if I ever disagreed or spoke up, I would be in grave danger.

So from a young age, I started losing sight of who | really was, what I really wanted or liked or disliked, because l was focused on blending in, and even disappearing completely, in order to feel safe.

I recently remembered a powerful note someone wrote me after we worked for a summer together in Honduras. She wrote, "Marissa, you are like a good book. I encourage you to open up and let people read your pages."

Now, 10 years later, I am coming back to her advice--working to rediscover myself, renounce every lie of unworthiness, and share my pages without feeling the need to rewrite them first.

The title of this piece is a reminder that some of the most beautiful things bloom from the moments when we decide to let others in to weather our storms with us.