19 x 22

Medium: pen and ink, watercolor

"I am the boat that has never seemed to be able to stay afloat; or I should say I was. Was because life has changed. I was taken apart, disassembled by life; I was broken. Identity was a scrambled mess of all the good, bad and horror the world dumped on me; I was the result of trauma and functioned behind masks. Masks fashioned to fit other people's narratives of who they wanted me to be. Sadly, those many masks failed me. Then I failed. I fell but I would not stay down. Someone saw, witnessed and expressed their vision of the me I could not see. Would not see. I decided to trust their perspective. I began to grow; I began to see me. Now, IDENTITY to me is the sum of the whole we choose to embrace. I now embrace God, Christ, The Spirit, Love, Peace, Respect, Trust, Truth, Vulnerability, Courage, Honor, Others, Hope, Self-Worth, and I embrace Faith. Most important, I embrace by all this the Right Man God gave me Purpose to be."