30”x24”, acrylic on canvas
Painted: 2021
Written: 2021
By: Justen Okanemi

“Self reflection leads to a greater Celf love.”

Lately I’ve spent a little more time and energy on self reflecting. Doing a Celf Check, so to say, where I evaluate how I am overall feeling, as well as how my thoughts have flown. I noticed some of the anxieties that crept up over the past few months have lost the snake-tight grip they once held and now seem to be hugging me; as if acknowledging the embracing that’s taken place. The feelings I’ve faced still exist, but they aren’t as loud, distracting or bothersome as they once were. They exist as reminders of what led me to the now, but not as a stressor or oppressor. Scars transmuted.