As you may know, Flowerpup was born to help other people who are grieving for pet loss to make peace with their grief through art.
Colors and flowers are two of the basic tools that I work with every day. And they always help me find the right chromatic harmonies depending on the animal I am focusing on.
Grieving for Pet loss
A portrait of a lost loved one can help you in the grieving process in several ways.
Firstly, it can help you seal the pain with a meaningful gesture and serve as a sweet reminder for years to come.
A customized portrait is a tangible reminder that someone who was important to you once existed and that their memory lives on with you... Beyond their soul.
Secondly, it can help you move on with life after their passing, serving as inspiration to keep going. Having something that reminds us of someone we love can help us face what is ahead of us without feeling like we are forgetting or completely letting go of them.
Third, it is a way to keep the loved one close to you. You can choose to put it on a dresser, hang it in your hallway, living room, or any other place you deem appropriate. And You could even keep it in your truck if you have one, like Carlo did!
You heard that right! Carlo was so lost without his Sally that he kept her portrait on his truck, where he spent most of his workdays.
When grief After loss Is too Strong and You risk Falling
Grieving for pet loss can be so strong that it makes us feel trapped in a loop of fear and sadness. In these moments, it can be difficult to find the strength and courage to move forward.
I myself, with the loss of Argo, spent months locked up at home without leaving... I felt completely lost, afraid of living a life without him.
And I think you have felt this sensation too, if like me, you had to face the loss of your furry friend...
The worst effect of fear is that it risks blocking any attempt to take action towards a situation we feel we have no control over.
How can we get out of this situation?
How to Overcome fear of Grieving for Pet loss By turning It into Courage
Thinking of eliminating fear from our lives would be not only impossible but also extremely harmful.
Fear, in fact, is the mechanism predisposed by nature for our survival. It is our alarm bell that makes us understand that something is wrong and that we need to remedy it.
But in nature, there is no courage. We have to find it ourselves to move forward, day after day, despite everything.
We become courageous only when we face and overcome our fear.
And only those who fear can have courage.
3 Tips to Become braver and Overcome pet loss grief
1. Recognize your Fear
Recognizing and accepting fear allows us not to remain stuck and to turn it from a limit into a resource.
2. Face its Sensations
Only by facing fear can we deal with it and learn to tame it. If we don't, by denying or repressing it, the risk is that fear will turn into panic or paralyze us.
Only if we face our fears, they become less threatening.
3. Don't avoid What scares You
Avoiding mistakes is the biggest mistake.
It is only by making mistakes that we grow.
It is by falling that we learn to get up
and it is by making mistakes that we learn to do better.
Every time you realize that you are avoiding making mistakes, remember that by doing so, you are feeding your fear and strengthening your inability.
And in the long run, you would end up building around you a prison that would become increasingly difficult to dismantle.
Avoiding what scares you may reassure you on one hand... But it doesn't make you stronger. Rather it helps you build a sense of helplessness, that conviction of not having enough resources to deal with external events.
But you are not helpless... You are brave, remember that.
Pet memorial Portraits to Give you Courage
Do you believe that a portrait can change the world? I can't say, but what I can say is that a portrait, actually many of them, have changed my world.
I believe in art as a fundamental tool to make this world a little less lonely, a little less cold.
I believe someone's life can change thanks to art.
So, we should stop thinking big as if the world were a monolithic entity that can only change through a united movement of millions of people doing the same things.
Maybe it's more important to start somewhere, in our small way, to begin to see the power in small things. Perhaps the most powerful gesture we can make for this wounded world is to put what we know how to do best at the service of others.
And if you know someone who would appreciate one of my portraits... Or you yourself are going through a vulnerable time and think that a Pet memorial portrait of your beloved friend could help. Don't hesitate to get in touch.
I'll be happy to put at your disposal what I know and love to do.
Flowerpup pet Memorial portraits: Turn Pain into Creativity
The reason why making portraits has helped me so much is the strength inherent in the creative act. In all my articles, you may have noticed that I often listed creativity as one of the primary ingredients recommended for your healing journey.
But what happens to your creative strength when you are grieving?
How can you use your creative mind to help you process your feelings, learn from them, and move on?
Creativity is a powerful force and has the power to heal.
If you think of many of the greatest masterpieces of literature, cinema, and art in general, you will realize that they were born from the same source from which pain originates. From Edvard Munch to Virginia Wolf, from Frida Kahlo to Sylvia Plath. They all endured tremendous pain in their lives, partly physical, partly psychological, partly both.
And the difference between those who make art and those who don't is not, as many think, talent, not "the gift", but simply practice.
In fact, I'll tell you more, you and a world-renowned artist have more in common than you think. We are all human beings, and the odds are very high that to some extent, we have all experienced loss, acute pain...
Personally, I don't know anyone who hasn't suffered. Don't believe me? Ask the people around you if they know what it feels like to lose someone, to experience such excruciating pain that you doubt it's physical, that your heart is literally breaking in two.
No one is immune to pain, it's one of the things that makes us human.
That said, I invite you to throw out the previous ideas you had about what art is. Not so much because what is taught in school is not a valid teaching... Absolutely it is. Rather because there are cultural and social reasons behind what is done or not considered of artistic value.
But art is not only synonymous with high-sounding names resonating from the pages of history. Art is a creative act. Which for millennia has represented the story of our stories and beliefs, a gesture of rebellion, reflection, love, and expression.
And as such, we are all capable of it, we all have the freedom to make art. What happens afterward, to the art that is known and celebrated, is something that has little to do with the moment of creation.
Conclusion
The reason why I write these things is that I know from personal experience that many people block and self-censor for fear of the judgment of others, of being derided, or for fear of not being good enough. You have no idea how many people suffer from this, not knowing that they are closing themselves off to an extremely rich and satisfying opportunity for inner work.
As a first step, let's try to get rid of this idea of being good. There is no being good in our experiences of emotional expression, there is only being yourself.
It will be rough, emotionally intense, and sometimes draining, and you will feel naked and exposed. Similarly, you will feel free, finally free to bring out what you have inside, what sometimes has no words, and too often does not find a suitable language to come out.
Free your creativity and find the courage to face your pain after grieving for pet loss.
A hug,
Helen
