What Is The Art Of Surviving?

sur·vi·vor
sərˈvīvər/

noun

1. a person who survives, especially a person remaining alive after an event in which others have died.

   "the sole survivor of the massacre"

   • the remainder of a group of people or things.

     "a survivor from last year's team"
   • a person who copes well with difficulties in their life.

     "she is a born survivor"

A reasonable yet vague definition of what or should I say who a survivor is. 

What qualifies an individual to fall under the "survivor" umbrella? Divorce, death of a loved one? Loss of a home or a job? A sudden health crisis or victim to a horrible crime. Wrong place, wrong time and a natural disaster crossed your path or you crossed its? Over achiever and a bit of all of the above? I like to call that career survivors.

This blog will hopefully be a platform for some answers on the Art of Surviving.

art

ärt/

noun

1. 1.

   the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.

   "the art of the Renaissance"

   synonyms:

   fine art, artwork "he studied  music, literature, and dance. "the visual arts"

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2. 2.

   the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.

   "the visual arts"
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Note the words "emotional power" and "creative activity."

The ART in SURVIVING is all about our own inner emotional power and the creative activity we engage in to save ourselves or cope with the situations we find ourselves surviving from.

There is no secret formula as it is different for each person and they each go on their journey to discover these truths about themselves. That old saying of "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger" is true, but - and this is a big but, you must want it to be so or it can kill you.

We are human and so we hurt, and the things that happened to place us in Club Survivor will always be with us to some extent. 

View surviving like you would various forms of artistry. Sometimes you are extremely skillful and perhaps even prepared for it. Graceful, like painting a watercolor of a beautiful sunset. Other days you are finger painting and it just gets down right messy as you get paint (your emotions) all over the damn place. But that's ok, truly it is, because there is always a time and place for finger painting.

So where do you think you fall as a survivor? Are you a sprinter where you had just one crazy traumatic event that changed everything? Or when filling out new doctor forms and it asks for "occupation" you write SURVIVOR. Let me know, I would like to hear your story.

The other intent on this blog is to have multiple authors sharing their experiences, survival stories and perspectives on life now that they are official survivors. There is no one right or wrong way to go about this. Everyone's story is unique as is their art of survival.

May you find peace and comfort in all your days.

Namaste,

Raven