How Frida Kahlo Changed My Life

This is Frida Kahlo. I'm sure most of you know who she is but in case you don't I'll tell you. Frida was a Mexican artist who lived from 1907-1954. I had seen some of her paintings but I never knew who she was until I took a class on Latin American history.

I should probably give you a little more background about me. You already know that school made me lose my love of writing. Some other things happened that caused me to lose my love of all things creative. I became completely focused on business. I wanted to own my own law firm and that was what my life was about. I didn't read, didn't write anything but essays, didn't do crafts, just school. I was still at this point while I was in this class.

So anyways, when we started studying Frida I was very inspired by her. She lived her life the way she wanted to and didn't let society dictate it for her. Being the kind of woman that I am, I related to that. I started looking over her work and I basically looked at it the same way I looked at all art. I could appreciate the talent but it was just pretty pictures. Then I came across this painting.

This painting is called The Broken Column and she painted it in 1944. When I saw it I just stopped. For the first time ever, a painting actually spoke to me. I thought of the things that had come into my life and had restricted and hindered me but were out of my control. I felt such a connection to this piece and something inside me stirred. I didn't know it at the time but my creative self had decided that it didn't want to lay dormant anymore. A couple of months later I felt an intense urge to start journalling. I wasn't consistent but when I did journal I felt emotions that I had suppressed for years start bubbling over. I had to explore this side of myself.

Eventually I decided to start this blog. Journals just weren't enough. I needed a place to keep pictures, quotes, and everything else. Notebooks don't quite give you the same freedom that a blog does. Well that's not true for everyone, but it is for me. Having this blog is pushing me to continue exploring my creative self. Slowly, very slowly, my all business self and all creative self are merging. One day I'll be part business and part creative, and I'll be following whatever path that leads to which is who I think I was meant to be to begin with.