Kelly Brown Shares How Art Contributes to Healing.
A patient at Levine Cancer Institute, Kelly shares with us her passion for the upcoming art installation entitled ‘Seasons of Life.’ Here’s her story:
Although it can be difficult to find a sense of beauty, comfort, peace, and hope within the walls of any cancer center, I am so thrilled that the Seasons of Life art installation provides a much-needed emotional connection for patients, caregivers, and health-care professionals. Let me share with you my personal reason for “why”:
There are places we instinctively find stressful to visit, hospitals naturally sit at the top of the list. While many beautiful things happen daily at medical facilities, there are also life altering events. A scary diagnosis, like cancer, can stop a person and their loved ones in their tracks. Suddenly you are thrust into the unknown with scans, x-rays, bloodwork, surgery, and possibly chemotherapy and radiation. Cancer centers quickly become a place of fear and anxiety for patients that never thought cancer would become a part of their life. Just taking one step into a building for an appointment can be overwhelming. The walls can feel like they are closing in on you while trying to hold it all together long enough to make it through an appointment.
Even with all this stress, beauty is possible for patients, caregivers, and health-care professionals that dedicate their time and efforts to cancer patients. It is possible with art, creativity, and a survival story. It is possible with personal pieces of glass honoring patients that live to tell their story and ones that rely on those left behind to be their storytellers. The walls within Levine Cancer Institute can become a place of joy and a place of beauty, a place to stop and appreciate a community dedicated to research and support, a place of peace so desperately needed to brighten someone’s journey.
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