JILL RUBY-WAHBA, LMFT, ATR-BC
Jill Ruby-Wahba is a LMFT, and Board Certified, Registered Art Therapist, with a private practice in Torrance, CA. Her passion is utilizing art making to help people improve their overall wellbeing. Along with traditional talk therapy, she includes art as a tool for communication, exploration, self-expression, self-acceptance and integration of deeply rooted beliefs and ideas in treatment.
Changing Perspective
(Digital Illustration 47" x 23")
This art piece is reflective of my attempts to seek and reach for joy and light. The reemergence of joy from the darkness and chaos of the past several years has been slow and intermittent for me as well as the people I work with. A silly selfie, taken bent over, under the bright sky sparked an idea: time to change my perspective.
2023 has been especially challenging for me, fraught with a constant barrage of surgeries, injuries, and illness, distracting me from my clinical work and all aspects of my personal life. Reconnecting with the joyful part of myself feels like an overwhelming task to begin after so many years of putting my own needs and interests on the back burner. It seems like there are constant distractions and interruptions, diverting energy from savoring potential moments of goodness.
This piece was made using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Manipulating my upside-down selfie digitally, “trying on moods,” with the ability to “undo” and “redo” parts, provided the sense of control I needed to approach this topic, versus the unpredictable process of making a physical piece of art. Perhaps I am still not ready to fully process the effects of the past several years and let it all out, but this is a first step, remembering coping skills.
Maybe it takes looking at everything upside down to appreciate what is right side up? Maybe that is what makes life interesting and infuses it with fresh energy and is what reminds us of joy? Living can be chaotic, traumatic, but there are always glimmers of light.
Perception is a powerful tool. It all depends on what we want to see, feel, experience, believe and hope for. Joy is attainable when we remember it is within our grasp if we seek it. I am reaching for it with both arms wide open.