Altered Art Lounge

        Altered Art Lounge

Rated: M for Moderate

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Shangri%20La/224/156/30

       I shattered my elbow a couple of ears ago in rl.  Took a fall while reaching for something and landed the wrong way, the pressure of the fall completely blowing out the joint.  It was painfully, crazy painful for what felt like forever and my life was completely altered for a very long time.

       The arm swelled to wear you couldn't tell i had an elbow at all, it blackened, it was to this day some of the worst pain i've ever felt, and i gave birth naturally!  Of course with an trauma there was more damage beneath the surface that became secondary to the shattered bone.  Tendons where torn, muscles were pulled away from bone, it was a bloody mess.  Surgery was needed to fix the major damage first, and after words the doctor told me that arm would never be the same.

        Now if you know me, you know i normally don't accept what others tell me I can and cannot do.  You know i'm stubborn and pigheaded and tend to go my own way even against the gentle advise of others.  Sometimes this leads to more damage, sometimes it leads to miracles.

        I started taking bathes as hot as i could get them, and my family would listen to me scream as i forced the joint to bend and stretch out in the hot water.  I refused my meds, convinced i needed to feel the pain to know if i was pushing myself too far or not.  After a year i still couldn't put weight on the arm without it shaking like i was a baby deer trying to stand on new legs.  Two years later, though and doctors were amazing to see that i have full range of the arm, have all my strength back, and besides a scar show no sign that I had been through the traumatic experience. 

My point?  and yes there is one.................................................................................................

      Life does this same thing to us emotionally constantly.  We think our world around is is perfectly fine and WHAM.............................we're thrown a break, a trauma.  Sometimes its a simple fix, a band aid and its healed, sometimes it requires surgery, sometimes it requires years of trying to repair with only slow results, and sometimes its permanently broken.  i suppose as with the medical world it all depends on where the injury takes place and the determination of the patient to get well. 

      I think more so in second life we experience these ups and downs, because its harder to trust when we are surrounded with temptation constantly.  Peoples true desires most often come out in a world without consequence and we find ourselves or watch others behaving in ways that we never would in the real world.  Yet Second life is just that, a chance to have a whole other world where you can live the life you have always dreamed of, experience the things you've only dared to dream of, so why do so many of us choose to spend that time focusing on wounds that will never heal?  Injuries that will never get better?  A pain that we have the power to stop, but only allow to continue?

    So all of this is what was parading around my thought bubble as i visited Altered Art Lounge.  Leave it to the abstract paintings to pull out a range of confusing emotions and leave me blubbering to you all like a mad woman!  Trust me when i say that my pictures do not and can not do this stunning work justice and it must be visited in person.

    The pieces created by SuzenJueL (juel.resistance) offer a passionate look into her world and draw emotion from you almost instantly.  All pieces are Original art in watercolor, Acrylic, and oil.  The Art is available for purchase in second life as well as in Real life by contacting the artist at suzenjuel@gmail.com.  You Can also keep an eye on her work with her flickr site https://www.flickr.com/photos/suzenjuel/ or by following her blog at http://www.suzenjuel.com. 

       At the end of my journey here, to which i spent hours, and a great deal of thought, i decided that i have two choices with my Second life.  I can either show the same determination i did with my arm and strive to make myself as well as i possibly can with a situation, or i can pretend the situation doesn't exist.  Given the fact i'm known for my stubbornness, which do you think i choose?

My favorite piece and certainly fitting my mood

Anna Drowns