When he was twelve years old, my patient lost his mother—and in that moment, a chasm opened in his soul.
Decades later, in his fifties, he described it still: vast, empty, aching. No matter how much time passed, nothing seemed to fill it. Medication held the bottom. Therapy steadied the walls. But happiness remained out of reach—hovering, elusive, untouchable.

One day in session, we began to reimagine that chasm.
Could it become a vessel rather than a void? Could it be filled, not by one grand source of joy, but by thousands of humble fragments—moments of light gathered from life:
his piano music, the warmth of his dogs, laughter with friends, accidental beauty glimpsed in the world?

This painting is the visual embodiment of that conversation.

At the center, fractured color fragments represent each fleeting happiness.
A hidden emergency staircase emerges—symbolizing the inner tools he’s developed to rise, even when the chasm feels endless.
The transformation takes place through layers: soft gold, lavender, rising energy—and, above all, the spiral of healing.

The before panel holds the pain.
The after offers the ascent.