Psychology Major in the Change Lab, Lauren Chapman’s story selected by Society of Pediatric Psychology “The Smeared Canvas”
The smeared canvas.
It is a challenge to unburden my mind from engulfing itself into the vortex of racial trauma. Over the last month, I have actively attempted to revive my well-being through self care and vulnerability.
With depletion at its finest and hopelessness at its peak, race-based traumatic stress has weighed down my heartstrings. Their feeble state has encouraged an alarming sense of awareness and concern for future generations to come. By consciously and unconsciously investing my emotional energy in violent media coverage and social injustice, my vibrant self portrait seems to be replaced with dark watercolors resulting in a smeared canvas. The smeared canvas is an overwhelming collection of gloom, exhaustion, and a desperate yearn for reform. Mental health should be on the frontline for the affected and non-affected populations in this country. Our mental health depends on a shifted narrative that can only be crafted by artists who are catalysts for change. It is our responsibility to address and clean our smeared canvases together by acting as pillars of respect, support and community for one another. We must use our voice and treat unity as a powerful force that can repel negativity and repair our emotional damage one brush stroke at a time.
Author: Lauren Chapma,n Texas A&M Read More……