When the unexpected happens, good or bad, and we’re thrown off our regularly scheduled life, our creativity often gets pushed to the side. What a missed opportunity!
Here are seven reasons to get creative when life gets unpredictable.
Let Your Creative Practice Hold You & Guide You
Having a regular creative practice can help you feel grounded during times of uncertainty and change. You may not be able to control all kinds of external circumstances but you can decide that you’re going to show up to the page or dance or sing, no matter what.
Let Life Be Your Creative Fuel
One of the great gifts of the arts is that they can hold the whole gamut of our experience. Whatever you are going through, whatever is churning, burning or buzzing inside, channel it into your art. Write a scathing poem. Sing a song of grief. Sew an outfit of ta-dah!
Connect to Your Inner Wisdom
Engaging your worrying mind in a simple creative activity can make way for your intuition and inner wisdom. Don’t be surprised if a sudden moment of clarity arrives while you’re colouring, doodling or beading.
Open Your Mind: Allow Your Life & Yourself to Be Shaken
We don’t like to be shaken but sometimes it is healthy for us to mix things up. When we’re out of our groove, that’s the best time to think about what song we actually want to be playing. Take this opportunity to open up your eyes and get a fresh perspective. Is this an opportunity for a fresh start?
Improvise
Creativity loves to dance with the unknown, to look for patterns, to make meaning out of chaos. Your creativity isn’t just for peaceful Sunday afternoons over cups of tea (though I love that, don’t you?) Our creativity is a force to be reckoned with, a skill we can draw on in every situation. Tap into your creativity and find your way to ride what is right here, right now. You never know what might happen!
Our Art is More than a Hobby
When we choose to stick with our art and creative practice even when life is unpredictable, out of synch or disrupted, we are saying to ourselves, to others and to the Universe, this matters. We’re saying, this isn’t a hobby; it is who we are. Like eating or sleeping, our art time is essential.
Creativity is Our Magic
Creativity is a gift that runs through every fibre of our being. It is the magic we draw on in times of need and in times of glory. It is where our resilience and our resourcefulness live. It is for every day and for all time. Even now.
This post couldn’t come at a better time for me. I was recently laid off from a very good job when the company went out of business. I’m looking for other positions, but nothing interests me because all I want to do is make things and feed my creative soul. This post helped me realize that it’s okay to feel that way, and it’s even more important to follow my dream of making art full-time. That I’m not “settling” and it’s not a “plan B” when I choose to make creative journeys my life’s work.
I’m also loving your posts on the Triplets. We live on a farm in the country and people are often abandoning cats out here. We provide these feral cats with food and water and shelter (heated in the winter), but we can’t catch them. One year, one of the cats had kittens and then was hit by a car when the little guys were about 7 weeks old. We brought them in the house, all spitting and hissing and they promptly went behind the washer and dryer. Eventually they came out and gradually started to interact with us, just like your sweet babies. Now, they are super sweet and cuddly cats who we love to death. I’m hoping you’ll have years of love with those adorable sweethearts.
Oh, Kelly, I’m so glad this post connected to you right where you are. I’m cheering you on! Here’s to your dreams and aspirations. Here’s to making your creative journey your life’s work.
And thank you for sharing your story about the way love transformed your sweet cats. Every hopeful story and encouraging word keeps us feeling positive and supported. It means the world. Yay you for welcoming those hissing kitties into your heart and for giving them a home. ((bighugs))
Hi Jamie,
You have been a lifeline to me with this post.
I am in the process of moving out of my home of 24 years by the end of July. I do not have a new place yet! Very scary, but an adventure at the same time. I continue to take time daily for journaling and collage work through the packing and house hunting.
Thank you so much for all this wisdom and for reminding me of the *~*~*~Magic*~*~*~* of creativity. Your words touched my heart deeply. . . and affirmed me. You will never know how much I needed to hear this!
Loads of love to you and your kitties! Shibumi’s name has a very lyrical sound to it – when I heard you say it aloud, it felt like a dance.
What an adventure you’re on, Pamela! I’m glad this spoke to you – and at just the right time. Here’s to your magic. I believe in you!