Creativity is an escape from reality.
We all need that healthy escape from reality sometimes.
Especially when the going gets tough. And tough can be anything and everything. Everyone’s different. Tough can look like different things to different people.
I was a music composition major in college.
I remember talking to someone before one of my music theory classes one day. She said creation is healing.
She’s right.
Creation heals.
Immersing yourself in making something – writing a song, a poem, a story, painting, whatever – can take your focus off of pain – it channels your energy into something else.
If you work in a creative field, or practice a creative art on a regular basis, you probably know what I mean.
If you don’t spend time creating just for you – without the boundaries from a client or market demands – there’s healing benefits that can be gained from creative arts.
So here’s three ways creativity can help you heal during a recovery process – the loss of something or someone – whatever that looks like for you.
(1.) Creativity is meditative.
If you’re going through a recovery process, something has changed.
Making something forces you to be in the moment.
Creation is an escape from reality.
It’s you and the paper. Nothing else.
(2.) Creativity releases your tension.Â
Creativity lets you get the excess energy out.
Feeling anxious? Stressed? Irritated? Angry? Sad? Take your rage to the page. Or keys. Or canvas. Whatever. When you’re focussed on making something, you’re channelling that energy into something productive instead of worrying about something you can’t control.
(3.) Setting up a routine can help create familiarity – and having something familiar when life around you seems crazy can help you stay sane.
Seriously. Creativity can save your sanity when you’re feeling a moment of I-just-can’t-even. A breath of fresh air.
Refresh. Reenergize. Rejoice.
So if you need something to help you in the healing process as you transition to whatever your new normal looks like?
Create to heal.
It won’t take the pain away, but it can help release tension.
Bring on the healing feelings.
Monika Weatherly 