Circle of Trust

No one will remember how much you crushed a workout or how brutal it was or what you physically did.  People will only remember how you treat others.  Kindness Matters.  Your Words matter.  Positivity matters.  As an art teacher, I am somewhat dumbfounded that I didn’t think of doing this until now.  I talk about leadership, vision, your voice, purpose, and kindness quite a lot in the classroom and I am only connecting my teaching to Qing now.  I decided to bring some artwork in that my school has purchased from a 14 year old to discuss some of these themes.  I directed the Mens attention to a painting created by someone I am going to call KD, her initials, and then read her artist statement for her self-portrait.  While I read the artist statement for her self portrait the Men looked at a painting of a sunrise with silhouetted birds and the word H.O.P.E. in the foreground.  Hope was turned into that acronym.  Hold On Pain Ends.  (I have attached both artworks to this Backblast for reference.  Both works and the words of the 14 year old are quite profound.  I apologize for the run-ons that follow.  I have typed her statement word for word how it was written.

“Society”   Expressive Portrait by a former student

Documenting the three main parts of an artist statement.

What:

What I have made is a portrait of me in a dark place, covering and trying to hide with negative bold words around me that have been said to me to show that it has taken over my life.  

Now What:

I made this drawing because I’ve been bullied before and it’s not the best.  All of the negative words on my drawing have been said to me at least 5 times.  People say negative words and the meanest things they can think of to try to get to you.  Sometimes you will believe that the nonsense of others might be true.  You can isolate, you can harm yourself, you can develop a mental illness, and scariest of all you can change yourself, you can change the person that you are supposed to be.  You should care about the meaning of my artwork because nowadays people get bullied and sometimes cyber bullied.  I would rather get punched in the gut than attacked by your words online.  Online bullies are cowards because they can’t say whatever it is to your face, they have to hide behind a screen.  People that are getting bullied take things seriously sometimes which can lead to really bad things.  People don’t realize that they are harming others with words.  They think that harm is only a physical thing, but sadly… it’s not, it is also a mental thing.

So What:  

Now, In this generation, many people are selfish and judge people for the way they are.  People are afraid to stand up for themselves because others find it as “talking back” when only…  they are standing up for themselves.  There aren’t a lot of people that take their words all that seriously when the most common response is, “I’m just joking.”   I really want you to take this seriously because I want to end bullying.  I know it will be difficult, but I am tired of hearing and seeing people get bullied and not standing up for themselves and only staying away.  This drawing is my witness statement and represents my stand.  I want my drawing to be my platform and my artistic voice.  I want to be the voice for the voiceless. 

After reading this artist statement, I showed the Men KD’s Self Portrait and discussed what KD is currently doing.  She graduated from Shepard High School Salutatorian and got a full ride scholarship to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  She is Minoring in Psychology with a Major in Art Therapy.  She is devoting her life to continuing the mission that she started as a child.  She is going to end Bullying.  I then reminded men that only kindness matters.  I mentioned how we lead has more to do with how we treat others than what we do physically at beat downs.  Always remember everyones opinions and everyones voice matters.  Always remember to be kind.

Kindness matters – September is National Suicide Prevention Month.  Reach out to your brothers you haven’t seen in awhile, reach out to those that are struggling, don’t suggest what to do just listen, and always be kind especially when you feel someone doesn’t deserve it.