Breast scars and creative well-being: Personal stories and experiences of healing

This article examines the connection between creative practices and processes of healing and scarring and proposes that creative outcomes can be understood as evidence of healing. We understand scars as embodying both cultural narratives of beauty and health, and personal identities in continual transformation. To achieve this, we develop an interdisciplinary approach which combines notions of 'creative well-being' with concepts derived from 'Health Humanities'. We propose that engaging with creativity can contribute to generating healthier and happier lives, and that through creative practices people can find ways to ascribe meaning to their lived processes. The analysis is centred on breast scars, from both breast cancer and cosmetic surgeries. It situates breasts in Western societies, as a cornerstone of femininity with significant symbolic weight. We present examples of creative practice - including ceramics, sculpture, tattooing, storytelling, reflective writing and performing arts - to illustrate how they have supported women's healing processes. In doing so, we present the stories of women who do not hide their breast scars but rather, in accordance with their values and beliefs, negotiate and ascribe meaning to them, through modes of embellishment, or by using them as inspiration for creative processes.