expectation of bliss —
acrylic on canvas
@marlo.art.bsky.social
artist & author • sharing insights from healing complex trauma and reconnecting to ecstatic creation
expectation of bliss —
acrylic on canvas
i was thinking about another angle, but this is an interesting perspective too. it’s sad to think about what the world would be like if women were taught to be leaders and men were taught to look up to them. not sure things would run on war and exploitation quite so much 😅
13.02.2026 16:58 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0i hope my experiences can be useful for people who are forced to transition from regular work to something more self-directed and creative
i understand how scary instability like this can be, but it can also be very exciting
it sounds insane, but i’ve found it to be far more effective (and fun) than doing what i “should”
the future feels incredibly wild and unpredictable at the moment, but i feel like i was made for times like these
AI will force many people out of stable careers, and there’s no telling yet what the future of employment will look like
early on in life, health issues forced me out of a stable career as well, and i’ve been making a living for most of my adult life by essentially just doing whatever i feel like
🆗 see you in like 7 hours
10.02.2026 04:58 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0vegan chilli!
10.02.2026 02:59 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0i’ll give you three guesses
10.02.2026 01:47 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0hating and scrutinizing an obvious villain is way more fun than looking at your own toxic behaviour
09.02.2026 20:49 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0in retrospect, maybe teaching girls to be quiet, deferential, and submissive was a bad idea
09.02.2026 18:49 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0not letting people continue to cause you harm isn’t the same as harming them, regardless of how they may feel about it. these are very reasonable consequences
09.02.2026 18:21 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0there are two sides to every dynamic and you can’t just put all the responsibility on the other person to stop being toxic. you have to do the work to change every aspect of the relationship you have power over, or end things
healthy anger is a wakeup call to get those things done
if i keep taking crap from people, who truly benefits in the long run? what example do i set? what toxic patterns am i feeding? what kind of affect does this have on the world in general? it’s all terrible
09.02.2026 18:21 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0i often feel incredibly guilty when standing up for myself or protecting my own wellbeing. but it helps when i look at situations more holistically
09.02.2026 18:21 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0where can i do better to validate my own painful experiences and recognize that someone really was out of line? where do i need to stop taking shit? what new boundaries do i need to set? where do i need to do better for myself?
09.02.2026 18:21 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0feeling pretty angry these days
an important part of healing is to learn what to do with your anger. to learn how to stop repressing it or taking it out on people, and to use it for positive change instead
when my anger is at specific people, i start by using it to find more compassion for myself
yes, it’s absolutely wild
08.02.2026 16:42 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0🤣 oh hi
07.02.2026 16:08 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0just came here to post something on this actually. what helped me to stop feeling like a failure so i can release it
i appreciate your perspective 🤍
oof. yeah, it’s tough breaking out of patterns like this. we adapt them to feel safe, and people don’t really complain, so we keep it up
i started looking at society like a toxic relative and it is helping a lot. do i choose myself or this narcissistic asshole who is never happy 🤣
epiphany of the day
you’re not a failure, you were just conditioned to devote your life to pleasing someone who is incapable of being happy. it felt like a requirement of staying safe
• feeling guilt if i focus on myself
• taking on the shame of perpetrators
• trying not to look too happy so i’m not a target
• etc
currently taking some time to reset and build healthier, more helpful habits, but not sure what they’ll look like yet
would love to hear yours if you have them ❤️
i recently realized that i was engaging with the world within the same toxic frameworks i adopted to survive abuse
some examples:
• hypervigilance around staying informed
• feeling responsibility for everyone’s emotions
• needing to read the mood of the whole world/internet before posting
1/2
purification —
acrylic on canvas
the nature of compassion —
acrylic on canvas
one of my favourites 🤍
no, you are correct! the faint ones are drawn on the back of the canvas
28.01.2026 15:52 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0awakening (study) —
acrylic and graphite on canvas
this work is about reconnecting with your inner knowingness to level up your perception
how many circles do you see?
thank you
23.01.2026 19:59 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0fill your own well
22.01.2026 18:20 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0winter roses
20.01.2026 17:30 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0