Marumarum is a publication focused on sending Positive Messages Into Negative Spaces.
Every week we share brief articles on a variety of topics aiming to shed light on a new aspect of life. Additionally, there are longer articles on projects or concentrated ideas on a monthly basis.
-Parker Dellis at Marum Studios
[008] Emotional Bandages
From paper cuts to gashes, if we don’t treat our physical wounds we only create more problems for ourselves with the odds of severe infection becoming higher. It is no wonder we respond to our physical injuries with a good cleansing before wrapping our wounds in bandages. After observing and cleansing our wound, we continue to repeat this process of healing until our wound has recovered and needs no further protection or cleaning.
But what if we skipped cleaning our wounds and went straight to just bandaging wounds? Or what if we never replaced our temporary bandages for long-term solutions?
These questions lead to predictable answers when thinking about what physically might happen as we would probably lose a limb or even lead to death. But what about our emotional wounds? When we need cleansing, bandages, and help for our emotional injuries, do we respond in the same way as we treat our physical wounds?
For many of us, it seems like our social situations and past experiences lead us to frequently place temporary bandages over emotional wounds that need long-term solutions. Our treatment of how we handle our “bandages” and response is a key difference between physical and emotional injuries. Physical injuries are easily seen while emotional injuries are internal responses to actions received or performed in our lives.
Different from physical injuries, emotional injuries are susceptible to overusing temporary bandages because it’s frequently easier to move on without addressing our emotional wounds. We settle with temporary bandages and allow them to turn “permanent” because the emotional work it takes to grow is deemed invaluable or a nuisance to our everyday lives.
However, when we visit our ignored emotional bandages, what we find could be compared to what an ignored physical wound might look like: an infected and neglected wound that oozes pain odors of pure stench. And after time our short-term bandages dissolve from being a part of the healing process and become a part of a destructive process. Like physical injuries, emotional injuries have steps that can be taken in order to attempt to heal.
[1] Emotional injuries need repeated observation and cleansing to ensure the infection does not sprout into losing the potential emotional “limb” and “organ system”. [2] Emotional injuries commonly need help from someone with experience or an expert level of knowledge. [3] After the emotional injury is prepared we can place temporary bandages over the wound in order to support healing and to prevent other grime from entering the wound.
[1] Observation and cleansing
Physically, when we have external injuries we usually know when and how we got our wounds. We cleanse our observable wounds so that they are protected from worsening and increasing in pain. Untreated and unprotected gashes are open to all sorts of filth being stewed into our cut which only leads to more pain. Emotionally, how are we supposed to see where our wounds are? We can’t visually see our emotions as wounds, nor can we cleanse them with proper anti-infection treatment. Some emotional wounds are so difficult to heal that they keep returning and we might not know why at first.
Emotional healing commonly requires us to understand who we are and what we have been through. With everyone having different life experiences and personalities, understanding our emotional awareness will look different from person to person.
Here are a few ways to start small in understanding your emotions:
Write it out. This could be daily journaling, writing through difficult episodes in life, or creative writing about how you are feeling.
Expand your terminology. Take some time to research words that will help you express how you are feeling. The power of expression lies within the tools that we have. Our words are our tools, so sometimes we need to upgrade our tools.
Practice breathing. Breathing has been a tool used for a long, long time by many cultures to keep grounded and find emotional wounds. By no means is it the sole solution to any problem or wound, but finding breathing techniques and being aware of our breathing matters.
[2] Experience and expertise
When we need help with our physical injuries we go to hospitals and doctors who have the knowledge and experience we need to ensure that we are healed. The same goes for emotional injuries. There are institutions, private practices, free help, and much more that professionals in the emotional healing industry offer for anyone to take advantage of. When starting off and looking for help, start with what feels comfortable. Whether you find experience and knowledge in a friend or family member or a trained professional, make sure that you find someone who can be trusted.
[3] Temporary Bandages
We might not even know it, but when we suffer an emotional injury our defenses go up, we wall ourselves off and might move on without addressing the actual problem. Using temporary bandages for our emotional wounds will not work as the sole long-term solution. We find solace and faux healing in anything that distracts us from looking at our emotional wounds because it is so, so hard to look at what we believe is vile. Short-term bandages are fantastic at helping us work through the times when our wounds are in need of extra help. Long-term healing is the solution to healing a problem.
Injuries come in all forms, depths, and types, so it becomes our unpaid full-time job to figure out what we need to do to mend our wounds. Being human comes with choices. And we have the choice to acknowledge and attempt to look at what's underneath our bandages or continue to treat the wound with temporary bandages. Like physical injuries, emotional wounds take time to heal, so take some meaningful time when you have a chance and begin the healing process.
[INTRODUCING] Friends of Marum
[A community focused collaboration to highlight ideas and individuals that promote growth, health, and well being.]
Friend of Marum: @therealisticmeals {here}
On places like Instagram and Tik Tok, you can find therealisticmeals crafting and sharing whole-food, plant-based recipes and drinks for you to enjoy. We love the clean ingredients and friendly energy that therealisticmeals presents in the recipes. Make sure to check out their page for yourself and to try our exclusive recipe below!
[Recipe] Veggie Frittata
“This recipe is gluten-free, packed with veggies, and vegetarian. You could make this for breakfast, a mid-day snack, or meal prep for a healthy lunch!” -Nikki
Ingredients:
2 small/medium zucchini - 1 cup red cabbage (finely cut) - 1 green onion (scallion) - 1 clove garlic (minced) - 1.5 cups old fashioned rolled oats—blend in food processor to make oat flour) - 2 medium organic eggs - 1/2 tsp baking powder - 2 tbsp basil pesto - 1 tsp corn starch - 1 tsp 21 seasoning from Trader Joe’s - 1 tsp red chili pepper flakes - Dash of cayenne pepper - Salt and pepper to taste - Avocado oil spray for cooking - Garnish with cilantro
Instructions:
Grate the zucchini and sprinkle it with salt. Let it sit for 10-15 mins, then squeeze out all of the excess water. It might take a few rounds to remove most of the moisture.
Then combine with all other ingredients and heat your pan with some avocado oil or olive oil. Add more oat flour or cornstarch if the mixture is not thick enough.
Form the mixture into small, flat circles (~3 inches across), and make sure it sizzles when you place it on the pan. This means the oil is hot enough!
Once the bottom is crispy and brown, flip to cook the other side. Set on a paper towel to drain excess oil, garnish with cilantro, add your favorite hot sauce, maybe lemon zest, pesto, or some avocado, and enjoy:)
Best,
Nikki {here}
If You Have Time to Spare
[+] Design Article: “Using the court as a “flexible frame”, Saatchi & Saatchi offers up an energetic NBA identity” {here}
[+] Looking for Music? Find and share a playlist of yours {here}
[+] Design Tool: Bookmarks.design is a complete resource covering a wide variety of tools that you may need {here}
[+] Looking for color? Find some colors {here}
[+] A thought from this week “Open for my mind to be changed”
[+] A song to listen to… {here or preview below}
Marum Resources:
[+] Are.na
Thanks for reading. I know we are all busy, so I appreciate your time! For further discourse, feel free to comment below or reach out on are.na and Instagram.