Is a daily creative practice beneficial to our journey of self-care and self-awareness?

The answer to this question is one only you can answer.  In my opinion, creativity may be as important to your health as the food you eat, exercise, meditation, or our connection to Nature.  Because everything you need to know about yourself, on all levels, can be found through a practice of creative observation and action, and often it is what you do not know that may be causing suffering.  What makes the difference between a healing journey or an exercise of resistance that you cannot commit to, is your own personal definition of “Creativity”.

If you are still holding onto creative wounds and fortifying, consistently, your lack of creativity, then you have all the more reason to begin consciously and consistently creating.

It is in the challenging of these beliefs that you begin to understand how expansive creativity is and it is through intentionally creating that the process can unfold.

You wanted to be an architect but your parents said you should take a different path because you weren't that good at drawing.  Your fifth-grade teacher was insistent that skies were blue and grass was green and you were leaning more towards magenta and yellow ochre, you were told you were wrong,  you look at the art of others on line or in the class you're taking and “reinforce” the belief that you are not creative and could never be that “good”.  Your ego tells you that you are wasting your time.  Those are creativity wounds.

We are all involved in the process of “being creative” every moment as we create our reality, whether we realize it or call it that.

A daily creative practice brings us back to this awareness.  (We had and used this awareness, freely, as small children and then … life happened and we “grew up”) We may also begin to realize that consciously creating and consciously choosing (by process of elimination or consistent observation) is one of the most beneficial methods of self-awareness that there is.  In my opinion, it is the most fun way of learning and healing.

 

For those among us that like the scientific approach, studies prove that creativity can be beneficial for:

• Increasing happiness
• Reducing stress (being creative is meditative)
• Reducing dementia, anxiety, and depression
• Better ability to focus and better problem-solving skills
• Freedom from rules and judgment and the need to be right or perfect
• Boosting your immune system
• Tapping into our intuition and instincts
• Self-awareness and the possibilities that occur when we feel seen, heard and honored.

Creativity is a state of being.

Creativity is a primary path to being authentic.  It is the expression of life force energy in all things, the expression of your life force energy. Nothing has ever come to be, no idea has ever been manifested, nothing has ever been “born” without creativity.  Creative expression is not “art” making as a professional.  In fact, it is not about making “art” at all.  It is about observing yourself as you create in a safe, free and interesting process and then making the adjustments that facilitate your personal growth and awareness.

With a broader perspective of creativity, we can use our creative tools-observation, curiosity, imagination, experimentation, courage, listening, focus in the moment, and play to practice “creating” a life of freedom and fulfillment. As we create we begin to access our thoughts, feelings and beliefs. When we take the time and energy to develop our own ideas, we learn to understand, trust and respect our inner self, in turn enabling us to better express ourselves. Not to mention how excited your inner child will be!

Create, Observe and Feed Your Soul!