Living between art and multiple sclerosis
Often, we imagine growth as something we must bring about.
We set goals and make plans. As a result, we decide what needs to change.
And sometimes, growth does ask something of us. But not always.
Indeed, sometimes growth begins much more quietly. It begins when we notice.
What has been asking for your attention?
Maybe it’s a thought that keeps returning. A desire you’ve been putting aside. Or a part of yourself you haven’t given much space to lately. A feeling you can’t quite name. Alternatively, a simpler realization: how your life and actions no longer feel like you.
Not necessarily wrong. Just…
Different.
And yet, noticing that difference doesn’t mean you immediately need to do something about it.
There is no obligation to decide or to draft a five-step plan. In fact, you don’t even have to know what it means yet.
You can simply notice.
Growth doesn’t always begin with change
We often talk about growth as if it requires becoming someone new or a better version.
A stronger version.
A more confident version.
But I’ve come to believe there is another way to look at it.
Perhaps growth can also mean becoming more aware of who you already are. Paying attention to what matters to you now. Moreover, recognizing what has changed. Maybe acknowledging what has stayed.
Growth can also mean making room for questions you didn’t have before. And, allowing yourself to discover that some things may be ready to grow while others may simply need to be seen.
Either way, there is no deadline for either.
Making room is not the same as letting go
This distinction matters to me.
Making room doesn’t necessarily mean removing something from your life. Instead, sometimes it means allowing something to exist without immediately judging it.
You can make room for uncertainty or for grief. Perhaps for curiosity or a new desire. For an old dream that has returned in a different form. For a version of yourself you are still learning to understand. Or perhaps for the possibility that your next chapter may not look anything like the one you once imagined.
Making room creates space. And, in turn, space gives us something precious:
the freedom to listen
What are you noticing?
Take a moment before moving on.
For now, what has been asking for your attention lately?
Not what needs to be fixed or what you think you should want. Not what someone else expects from you.
Just…
What are you noticing?
You might write about it. You might create something. Perhaps you might talk about it. Or you might simply carry the question with you for a while.
There is value in not rushing to an answer.
Sometimes, the first act of becoming is simply paying attention to what is already emerging.
A little space for what comes next
This is also where creativity can enter the conversation.
Not as a way to produce something beautiful. Not as another thing to accomplish.
Instead, as a way of listening.
A blank page can hold a thought before you understand it. A brushstroke can express something words haven’t reached yet. A photograph can preserve something you don’t want to forget. Even a color can remind you of something you didn’t know you were carrying.
Sometimes we create because we already know what we want to say. Other times, we create because we are still finding out.
I think both are valid.
One of the things I love about painting is that a piece can begin with one idea and reveal something entirely different along the way.
The layers accumulate. Some remain visible. Others become part of what lies underneath.
Eventually, something begins to emerge that could not have existed without everything that came before it.
Perhaps we are a little like that, too.
You don’t have to rush what is becoming
Maybe there is something in you that is beginning to take shape. A new way of seeing yourself. A different relationship with your creativity. A desire you’ve been afraid to acknowledge. A boundary. A possibility. A quieter understanding of what matters.
You don’t have to force it into existence or know where it will lead. And, above all, you certainly don’t have to become someone else to make room for it.
You can grow from here.
From who you are. With everything that has shaped you. At your own pace. In your own way.
A small invitation
If you want to spend a little more time with these questions, I’ve created the Blooming Through Change Toolkit as a space to pause, reflect, and explore what may be emerging in your own life.
You don’t have to have the answers.
Instead, you only have to give yourself enough space to listen.
And one last thing…
Some ideas begin on a blank page. Others begin on a canvas.
And sometimes, an artwork keeps asking questions long after the painting is finished.
I’m curious to see where this one goes.
