Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?
Frida Kahlo - Written in response to her foot amputation
Frida opened her deepest wounds onto her paintings, wrote in her diary without holding back, protested her beliefs, survived a horrific accident that paved the way to 27 operations over her lifetime, on top of 3 miscarriages, and did it all expressively.
I used to think I was the strangest person in the world, then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.
Frida Kahlo
What I love the most about Frida is that she honoured herself to the point of emphasising every aspect of who she was emotionally and physically. Frida didn’t try to change the way she looked, which I deeply respect as someone who feels the need to wax my brows and slightly darker-haired lip. She lived-in places where all that waxing was certainly seen and held as a beauty standard in the United States. But instead of feeling a need to wax her own to fit in she let it shine as who she was. She loved colour and contrast and happily used these differences to contrast herself to new places, wearing traditional Mexican garments and accessories into the streets for which she was admired. Most of us live almost in fear of who we are both physically and emotionally. Too much of my life I play it down or change to a more accepted norm.
They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality.
Frida Kahlo
Frida didn’t shy away from a self-portrait or giving one as a gift. A painting of oneself given as a gift might get some interesting remarks nowadays, yet she did, and it was celebrated. It was already currency in her life where she traded her paintings for dental work and in lieu of payments.
Don’t build a wall around your suffering. It may devour you from the inside.
Frida Kahlo
At 37 Frida began keeping a diary, referred to as a diary not an art journal due to it not being the place to plan or practice aspects of her paintings and that it captured her poetry and innermost feelings.
As for me, I cannot be the only one who holds back in journal entries for fear of who might read them and be offended by what I write.
I cannot be the only one who changes and downplays aspects of self to fit in and find more acceptance.
I cannot be the only one who recognises they want to break free and be like Frida owning and emphasising themselves.
I cannot be the only one practising that in my inner struggle.
Let’s open our journals and find a space to spill onto the page. We could get honest as to what we are holding back and why. If words cause hesitation let’s start with colour or scribbles or doodles and work our way out from there.
Let’s let our diary do the job of bearing witness to parts we need seen.
Be the witness you need.
Some prompts to write at top of your page that might help get you started are:
What part of me needs to be seen today?
What step can I take towards opening myself?
What comfort can I give myself?
I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.
Frida Kahlo
When the pen hesitates I try to remind myself that we all have made ‘mistakes’ and are ‘flawed’. We have all stumbled and done little things that weren’t our best selves. We have all had hard days and they seem almost like the norm of late, where we couldn’t give as much as we would like. Let’s start with the small step of witnessing ourselves and accepting ourselves and giving ourselves that.
Let those seemingly flaws shine through, let them colour your page and allow you to be you.
“Cocina de la Casa Azul de Frida Kahlo” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Georgiño
Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.
Frida Kahlo
References and photos are from Diary of Frida Kahlo and the Google Arts and Culture pages on Frida Kahlo.