Adios Bolivia

 A Gift and a Mission.

Sometimes, what seems like failure sparks a huge creative breakthrough.

The NY art competition didn’t go as I had quietly hoped—I didn’t win. I thought I had a chance! The prize was a touring exhibition of the 25 winners, visiting four European capital cities. There were five categories, three winners from each category.

My "failure" has ignited a whirlwind of wonderful wild, new ideas. I’m beyond excited to share that I’m back to planning my own European tour -

                          Vilnius Amsterdam Dublin Edinburgh

                             

Since 2015, my true artistic goal has been to communicate hope through my expressive art. This seed has been growing steadily in recent years.

For the last three years, I’ve felt drawn—through my art—to reach the descendants of Eastern European Jews who, like me, carry the weight of inherited trauma. Discovering the identity of my never-known Jewish father four years ago was the catalyst for this journey.

However, I’ve come to realize that this healing journey is not limited to one specific group.

I believe we all carry some form of deep, unheard, inherited trauma, and my art now seeks to resonate with this universal experience.

After years of unspoken sadness, creativity has become my most powerful healing tool.

Following my miraculous recovery from stage 4 cancer in 2015, my drawings took off with unstoppable, joyful energy—at times playful, always passionate—and a profound trust in the bigger picture grew to new heights.

I asked ChatGPT to tell me what Elizabeth Gilbert and Carl Jung would have said to the above statement:

Elizabeth Gilbert:

I wasn’t just healed; I was alive, truly alive, in a way I had never been before.

Carl Jung:

Emerging from the transformative ordeal of stage 4 cancer recovery, I felt as though the archetype of the healer had been activated within me. My drawings became vessels of an inexhaustible, joyful energy—symbols that tapped into the primordial currents of creativity. This newfound passion was not merely artistic but a manifestation of my unconscious coming into alignment with the Self. It was as if I had touched the edge of something vast and ineffable, a divine ordering principle at work. Trust in the greater picture, the mysterious totality of existence, became an integral part of my being. This wasn't just about physical healing, but an individuation—a profound journey into the wholeness of the psyche.

I believe this is true, though I could not have expressed it in this way.

May all our failures turn into gifts, blessings, and a new mission, if a new mission is needed.