#MeToo - Hope in Release
Your right to freedom is much more valuable
​than your right to be hurt

This 48" x 72" acrylic painting was hosted by the Lantern Coffee Bar and Lounge in Grand Rapids, MI for ArtPrize 10 in 2018.   My piece was included in this article by Michigan Live.
There are 3 kinds of forgiveness: Exoneration, Forbearance and Release. Release is for those unforgivable situations where the perpetrator hasn't asked for forgiveness and never will. It's for #MeToo victims who will receive no acknowledgment and no justice. Victims don't have to carry around the stinking trash of those unforgiven memories that replay rent free in their mind. Victims seem free because they can walk to infinity North and West on the pier. Victims think they can carry all the wrongs done to them because they're floating on the barge, but this trash is strangling them and keeping others at a distance. This painting highlights the options: incarceration to the wounds of your past OR letting go of the mountain of wrongs so you can do what you really want to do. Take the rope off your neck at any time by releasing the wrongs done to you and sailing away into a limitless future where your past doesn't rule you. There is hope for everyone in release.

Learn more with these useful videos & articles
Why do I need to forgive people who deserve to be hated? 
Dr. Stephen Marmer, Psychiatrist, UCLA Medical School,  teaches 3 kinds of forgiveness that inspired part of the title for this artwork.
Mayo Clinic explains how un-forgiveness can take a toll on your health and mental well being and provides healthy steps you can take towards forgiveness and improved health. 
This conversation with Kathy Christopher started it all. Thank you friend for sharing your story and this image with me. Thank you for challenging me to name and release the rubbish I carry from my past and paint my hopeful freedom. 
Did you know there is a body of scientific research around forgiveness and the proper way to apologize? Check out these articles.
Terry and Sharon Hargrave (PhD and MA, LMFT) helped me understand myself and the behaviors of people involved in my past drama. This lecture gave me hope that I can move from pain into peace. If you like the talk I recommend you purchase their book here. 
Watch this TED talk to Learn how Blythe Hill turned her past hurt into help for others. Consider participating in Dressember this year.
​Copyright © 2021 Sherry Barrett
​All rights reserved.