If you feel you want to learn more and deepen your skill at something creative there are tons of ways to nurture and learn more from online courses, courses in your community, swapping lessons with friends or simply “letting go” and creating without thinking. I find my best poetry and some of my best meals have been created when I am not “thinking” so much but just experimenting and “letting go”.
I was the girl in class staring longingly at friend’s doodles that were in my eyes works of art and thinking “wow, I wish I could do that”. I made some of my closest friends in grade school by doing just that — I guess someone gaping wide-mouthed in amazement and awe at your “doodles” kind of endears you to the person!
I started writing poetry early and have written on and off throughout my life. I used to write mini plays for my friends and now get my writing in right here and through other projects. I could go on for QUITE a while about my love of dance as I did in my post “What Dance has Meant to me — Can Dance Heal?” and a recent post about exploring different cultures. I also LOVE to cook and hope to learn more about other cultures of cooking. A dream is to go to a week retreat in Mexico to learn from the owner of Rosa Mexicano a beautiful and AUTHENTIC Mexican (No Tex Mex) restaurant in NYC.
Can you remember what got you excited creatively last or even as a child? Cooking? Singing? Dance? Painting? Journaling? It doesn’t have to be something you even share with anyone else if you don’t want to…. Is there something you wished you could do? Dance? Draw? Now with videos and online sites teaching you — you can begin to explore some of these things without even leaving your home to find out if
it is indeed a passion. Do you enjoy to sing but get embarrassed or shy with others around? When you are alone BLAST that music and sing your heart out! Do you love to draw and want to learn how to be more confident in your drawing? Drawspace is a wonderful site for drawing lessons for FREE. Do you love to dance but don’t “get out” quite like you used to? (Sigh…. doesn’t THAT sound familiar?) Grab your kids or your mate or blast some music alone and dance through your living room!Sometimes you don’t even KNOW you have a creative talent until you try it. I wrote a post Andrea Leake who just had a feeling one day to draw wild birds and was amazed to find out she was an expert at it without even a single lesson. You need to try different things and listen to your intuition to discover all the creative processes that you can enjoy. There are many stories of people who use art to aide in healing. My step-mother, Darcy Lynn had cancer and wrote her book, “Myself Resolved” on how art helped her get through her treatments. She is a wonderful artist and her paintings continue to inspire me.
There is a reason hospitals have recreational therapy where patients dance, draw, sing… it is to enliven them and make them happy! Creating brings joy and a “letting go” of some issues you might have been preoccupied with. If you take a break to create something you will probably come back to the issue at hand with a much clearer picture and in a better space to deal with it. Creating relaxes, rejuvenates, gives your mind a break and gives you self confidence in the process. It doesn’t matter HOW you do it. Do it for fun and the enjoyment. Do it to “let go” and relax. Do it to break up the routine of your day. Do it to create something different in your life and for a few minutes “just be” instead of thinking your way through the day. Creating will make you feel great, relaxed, rejuvenated and healed on many levels!
