When You Don’t Have the Words, Make Marks Instead

There are days when words feel impossibly heavy. You try to journal, but you stare at the page and nothing comes out. You want to talk to someone, but you can’t quite articulate what feels off. You know something is sitting just below the surface, but it refuses to form sentences. Those are the moments when making marks becomes the doorway back to yourself.

Why marks work when words don’t
Creating is a different kind of communication. It bypasses the part of you that wants to analyze and perform and explain everything. Instead, it pulls from instinct. From honesty. From the places you don’t always show. When you put down color, or blend pastels, or scribble out raw emotion on paper, you’re letting your inner world speak without filtering it first.

Journaling is beautiful, but when I’m overwhelmed or disconnected, trying to “find the right words” can shut me down before I even start.

I’ve always understood myself better through art. Even as a professional artist, the pieces I create for my own regulation look nothing like my finished collections. They’re messy, fast, emotional. The marks tell me what I’m feeling before I have language for it. Sometimes it’s circular scribbles that show I’m spinning mentally. Sometimes it’s chaotic contrast when my mind feels overstimulated. And sometimes a soft shift in color tells me I’ve finally exhaled.

The relief of expression without pressure
When you stop trying to explain yourself and instead let your hands move, you release tension without needing to be eloquent. There’s no right or wrong. It doesn’t matter if the piece looks unfinished, awkward, or wild. You aren’t creating art for anyone else. You’re letting yourself breathe on paper.

Have you ever stared at a blank journal page and thought ‘there’s too much to say” or “I don’t have words for this?

This is why so many women who feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck latch onto therapeutic art faster than journaling. Writing can feel like another task. Another thing to get right. Another place where the perfect words are expected but out of reach. Another task that feels endless because it takes so long to get everything out on paper and you just don’t have the time or energy. But with paint and markers, you can say more in ten minutes than you could write in ten pages. And you don’t have to explain it to anyone.

Marks don’t judge or demand clarity. They show me what’s going on inside without forcing it into sentences.

How Internal Landscapes teaches this practice
Internal Landscapes gives you a safe space to do exactly this. The exercises lead you through intuitive mark making so you can tap into what you’re feeling and discover what’s underneath. You learn to notice the patterns in your shapes and strokes, see connections you didn’t realize were forming, and reflect on what your emotions look like visually. It’s simple, powerful, and doable even on your busiest days.

If you’ve ever wished for clarity but felt too overwhelmed or wordless to journal or talk it out, this practice will feel like coming home to yourself. Internal Landscapes guides you through the process step by step so you can express what you can’t yet articulate and walk away feeling grounded and aware. It gives you the space to speak in color instead of sentences. If that sounds like the kind of support you need, you can explore the course here.