mental health

Fragments

We are in pieces.

Fragments.
Shards.
Tiny particles that don’t fit together
Mismatched codes,
Ironically similar
In our flaws and lacks

We walk, but we don’t question the journey.
We don’t understand the path,
It seems deprived of destination and purpose.
We just carry on,
with or without legs
With or without eyes.
We just follow silent orders
Anonymously in the crowds
We dare not to stand out of norm, of compliance
We can’t stop
Catch our breath.
Disrupt traffic,
Rest.
We succumb to the steep climb.
Hopping that the unbridled descent
will shorten the path, spare us, somehow.

We walk, breathe,
we eat and sleep
when possible.
We obey
inevitably.
We are all besieged.
Inside and outside
all the walls in this world.
We are patient and we go mad
We wait, and we hope
that something will change
Someone will save us
Anything will happen
Besides the pain
Despite the fate
Beyond the insanity
Above the oppression
Under the sun
We are scattered all over the place
Living lawful lies
Defying absurdities
Coping with what is.
But what is
Is way less than we deserve

We dream of surviving chaos and catastrophe
Hoping our fate would heal and redeem us.
We surrender to time
Holding to the pieces that are long gone
Whipping the dust off our remains
wipping dry tears off our eyes
We continue,
filled with shivering hope
and whatever is left of
our sacred innocence.

Luciana Mariano (c)

Waiting – acrylics on fine Belgian linen – 180×215 cm

Painting done during the Serlachius Residency in Mänttä, Finland, between March and June 2025.

The distance between doors

7/12

The 7th work of this series is about the difficulty to go from one place to the other, even after you already relocated. How the paths may seem easy, but nothing is really easy when you feel vulnerable and weakened. The doors are in the same room, but the simple way from one to the other can make you feel afraid and represent dangers that your mind knows way too well to ignore. Mental health play a key role in it. The decision to start a new life is filled with fears and insecurities. And it takes a lot of courage not only to dare to leave but to arrive and deliberately choose the best possible path for yourself. Bringing in the good memories and allowing new friends into your life may help to keep the ghosts of the past at a safe distance. It is not easy to decide and choose to be happy, leaving behind all the rubble, wounds and bruises, but it is necessary, despite the impossibilities. And it’s worth it, despite the herculean efforts. I am grateful to the friends who helped me build new memories, easing my fears and creating safer shelters, with wider and more beautiful windows and views.

Luciana Mariano (Series: Finding home)

Original artworks available at MakslaXO Galley, in Riga, Latvia.

Meditation
Storytelling

There is a place, in the deep, vast blue planet, where we can always meet and rest.

Where we can just be and listen to each others breaths, hearts, voices, silences and stories.

There we know we are safe. Turbulences do not affect us when we are in there.

It perhaps lasts a few seconds or undisturbed hours and days, but we know,

that in there, we don’t need to be cautious, worried, afraid, alert, defended.

We share in silence whatever goes through our souls, with no fear of mistaking

no doubt nor disapproval, no chance of rejection. An ephemeral taste of peace and freedom we lack.

There we can be tenderly preserved from tempests, turmoils, gales, jumbles and storms.

It’s there where we take shelter in our darkest and coldest nights.

A place to be nurtured and lovingly accepted. Generously allowed to exist, heal and thrive, despite our human imperfections, our flaws and limitations. There we are perfectly broken (and loved) for the whole context and perspectives of our existence. No words needed, you just know. There we play, sit, rest, are.

Its the chance to recompose and re-align. Re-find our purposes and allow ourselves to continue, despite the noise, rage and friction of the waters that never cease. Feeling comfortable even for a tiny fraction of time may be the glimpse of hope we long for. Having our feet dry and warm, for a while, gives us strength to stay afloat a little longer and perhaps, make it safe to shore, find home.

There you are the home.