Healing thru Aesthetics & Color Magic for Survivors | Healing is the Best Revenge Podcast, Episode 4 Transcript

Hi, I’m Karina Hagelin and this is Healing is the Best Revenge, a podcast for survivors who reject pedestals and perfection to discuss the politics of survivorship, community care, and our often-unconventional pathways towards healing.

This is a very messy very DIY podcast. You may hear my kitty cats or the construction next door or my AC running and so on and so on. I am disabled and chronically ill so I’m often recording this podcast using my phone from my bed. So, thank you for being along with me on this journey!

If you're enjoying this podcast, please rate, review, and subscribe. Your support means the world to me and helps this podcast reach more people who might need it.

And finally, before we dive into today’s topic, I want to share the featured review from Leah which reads:

“I bought these zines for a friend while she was in the midst of leaving her abusive husband. I was offering the same words of encouragement over & over again because she, understandably, was having a hard time hearing them after being gaslit for over a decade. I am SO GRATEFUL for these zines because I think they helped her truly receive the message that her situation is NOT her fault, that her truth is real, that she is loved. The zine's kind words, their bright color, just the fact that someone cared to make them at all, really moved my friend. On top of that, Karina could literally not be sweeter!!! They kept me updated on their packaging process, and included tons of fun little extras (cards & stickers, etc.). Truly the best purchase ever.”

Thank you so much for this really heartfelt and super thoughtful review of my series of survivor affirmation zines, Leah. I’m so grateful and so glad I am that your friend found my work supportive in her journey because you’re right: what happened isn’t her fault and her truth IS real and she is SO loved. So yeah, thank you so much; you have no ideas how much your words and these reviews mean to me.

Today, I want to talk about healing through aesthetics. Healing through aesthetics is a personal philosophy of mine, grounded at the intersection of style and healing and how they support one another. So, let’s dive right in.

Style, fashion, or aesthetics, whatever you want to call it, it often gets a bad rep as frivolous, unimportant, and wasteful. But style is so many things, some of which are negative and/also some of which are really positive, exciting, and liberating because style is and can be a lot of things. I love talking about how style functions because:

Style can be political, play, power, protection;
Style can be creativity, pleasure, gender euphoria, a spell;
Style can be vulnerability, reclamation, magical, embodiment;
Style can be self-care, self-love, self-expression; and style can be so, so, so, much more

Personally, style has been really healing in my trauma recovery journey.

As a survivor, style has helped me feel more embodied & to reclaim my body, reminding me that this body is mine & mine alone to decorate & to adorn as I so desire. Style has also been a source of protection, play, & pleasure. So yeah, style is deeply interwoven with my healing process which is why I love talking and teaching about healing thru aesthetics.

One aspect of this practice I work with a lot is color magic. Sarah Potter, witch and art advisor defines color magic as the practice of “using the color spectrum and the intention of each color to invoke its magical response”.

I use color magic every day, honestly, and maybe you do too. I use color magic to make really deliberate and intentional choices about what colors are in my wardrobe - and home - so that I can call in the vibes, the energy, I need in my life. It’s been a fun and empowering experiment in my healing process.

My wardrobe these days is almost entirely pink, a color I associate with love, vulnerability, care, friendship, and playfulness, all of which I’m cultivating in my life at this very moment.

I often wear black for grounding, protection, and a sense of rebellious confidence. When I was earlier on in my healing journey, I wore almost all black because I really, really, really, needed the protection magic black clothing gave me. I still remember my typical outfit of the day back then. I would wear a black strappy tank top with black cut-off short shorts, black fishnets, and black Doc Martens. I usually had on black or dark brown tortoiseshell cat-eye sunglasses. And I carried a huge black pleather duffel bag with me everywhere. My makeup routine relied on oversized winged eyeliner and sometimes, a streak of very messily applied red lipstick. But often chapstick, honestly. [laughter]

My closet is a lot different now. I’m a lot different now. The changes in my aesthetic symbolize the changes in my life, in who and how I am.

The thing about color magic is that the meaning we assign to colors is deeply contextual, subjective, and personal. So I want to remind you that what’s most important when working with color magic is what each color symbolizes to you. What colors do you wear the most & what words do you associate with them? What colors do you WANT to wear? What colors do you NOT want to wear? [giggles] For me, that’s blue.

I’m really into adding a little lavender to my outfits these days, especially when I’m wearing mostly black. I associate lavender with magic and dreaminess and royal energy. I think this is on-track with stepping into and really owning my power in my healing process these days.

Okay, that’s all for today but before you go I’d like to remind you, if you’d like to receive notes on radical self-love and healing and affirmations and such and to stay in touch with me, you can find the link to subscribe to my newsletter in the show notes. I’d love to have you on the list!

And as always, a gentle and firm reminder, I believe you. Until next time, sweet friend!