Create or Perish
This is not the first time I have blogged about this subject matter, but it is something I feel passionate about. I'm not passionate because I am an artist, because I'm not. But, I have found within myself my creative expression.
Being creatively expressed is not limited to being an artist, or a musician, or a poet laureate, or accomplished in the way that the world would measure you as accomplished. Being creative says: spirit, create through me. I know that when I speak about this subject in public or in a class there's always some individuals in that class that begin to roll their eyes right as I say to them let your creativity out.
I am wholeheartedly convinced that being creative, which can mean using crayons and a coloring book, is absolutely a necessary aspect of our life to create balance. If you are creative in ways that take you outdoors for gardening and landscaping, great, that too is creative. If you're not doing such things and if you are not creating anything, and if you are not picking up that guitar that's been sitting in your basement for years, or you're not applying paint to those bright paintbrushes that you bought six months ago, or you're not dancing for joy and exercise, then you are missing out on the healthy, wholesome aspect of creativity.
I'm willing to expand the definition of creativity so that you can fit yourself into that category a little easier. For example, if cooking is a creative outlet, that's fantastic, but if cooking feels like an obligation and there is no joy in it then it does not apply. Being creative has a built-in promise of joy, satisfaction, and fun. I don't know of anyone who doesn't need more fun. If you have not exercised your creativity, or should I just say express your creativity, in a long time it could feel like trying to climb Mount Everest, but I assure you the climb, which can only happen one step at a time, is worth every step. You deserve to feel wholesome. You deserve to have your life be healthier. One path to accomplish both those things is the path of creativity.
Some simple tips and suggestions:
1. Start slowly, find the joy in the project. If it feels like a chore, stop, and wait. This applies for anything that you might choose to do.
2. Dust off that guitar, clean off the piano, get your violin or flute out of storage and just play.
3. Exchange some of your TV viewing for creating something daily.
4. If cooking is your creative outlet, try new recipes and have friends over to comment on the food.
5. If you believe that you don’t have a green thumb, do some research and change that experience.
6. You say you can’t draw, what about doodling, or making mud pies, or bird feeders.
7. Check out YouTube of your local adult school for classes and instructions.
The options to be creative are endless. Try it and see how different you feel from the joyful act of being creative. Enjoy my friends. And please write to me to let me know about your experience. RevJerseyGirl@gmail.com
