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| CC Jean Stimmell |
Northern white cedar trees flourish in challenging conditions where other more muscular and faster-growing trees cannot compete. The cedar in this photo started life with a view that any yuppie would envy on a cliff overlooking Great Bay. But, over time, climate change exacted a fearsome toll: A rising ocean and battering storms have, like an evil magic trick, cut all the soil from beneath her body.
Yet the tree survives – more than that, she thrives – with uncanny resiliency by sprouting strong side roots back to solid ground. One might think that being so twisted and deformed would turn her into a cripple, a pitiful victim. But instead, her trauma has transformed her into a tree of striking beauty, a work of art.
It's not uncommon to see positive growth in those who have survived challenging circumstances and trauma. I've watched it happen to some of my patients. Of course, they, along with the cedar tree, would never choose this path, opting, if they could, to grow trauma-free, straight and tall in perfect soil. But who among us gets to decide what kind of a high tide we might face?
There is one catch: to achieve this creative growth, survivors have to resist the natural urge to avoid the agonizing emotions and thoughts that surround the traumatic event. As Scott Berry Kaufman points out in Scientific American: "it's only through shedding our natural defense mechanisms and approaching the discomfort head on, viewing everything as fodder for growth, that we can start to embrace the inevitable paradoxes of life.”1
Kaufman lists seven growth areas that can sprout from adversity, one of which is a fount of new-found creativity. As an example, he cites a study showing how even severe physical issues didn't curb the careers of a number of prominent painters. On the contrary, their calamities unlatched "new possibilities for their art by breaking old habits, provoking disequilibrium, and forcing the artists to generate alternative strategies to reach their creative goals.2
To promote recovery after trauma, Kaufman has become a big believer in art therapy and expressive writing. My cedar tree stands ready to do her part by being a model for anyone wishing to sketch or write about what she represents to them – and why her example gives them inspiration and hope.
xxx
2 Ibid
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