How Is Creativity Self Care?

Unless we have faced and dealt with the wounds we have accumulated in this lifetime or other lifetimes, our growth can be limited or even blocked. I personally believe that everyone is working through something, some of us more than others. The desire to be happier, healthier, and live a fuller life. 
 
Self-care is the mindset, activities, practices and habits we bring to bear against our stress, unhappiness, illness, depression and many more negative emotions.

Self-care is about giving ourselves relief when we feel overwhelmed, or once we get good at it, before we get to overwhelm. To care for yourself, you need to know your needs and seek them out. The first thing to remember about self-care is that it is not indulgent.

Everyone uses the analogy of putting on your oxygen mask before helping another on a plane, and yet we don’t often believe that self-care is equally important, it is your oxygen mask, it allows you to be able to do more for others and be more alive.
 
The reason for this is simple. Until you are helped, you are likely to cause more problems and become part of the overall problem rather than being part of the solution.

A study by Kaimal, Ray & Muniz reports that cortisol (a stress-related hormone) lowers significantly after just 45 minutes of making art (being creative).

Creativity, in general, is powerful for practicing self-care. Creativity connects us to ourselves on a profound level. It helps us to listen to ourselves. It helps us pick up on subtleties and patterns.

Creativity, if we allow ourselves to get out of our own heads, is like meditation. Sitting in deep contemplation of our own selves and our desires or the release we are needing. At first we resist, but as we start to feel into our creative endeavour we start to let go.

Creativity does not mean you have to write a novel, or a symphony. We do not need to create for anyone other than ourselves. It is the act of creation, not the finished product that allows us to feel into ourselves and heal.

Some great starter ideas are journaling about your day, finger painting, decorating a space, doodling, collecting pinecones with your kids and making funny pinecone people. It doesn’t matter what you do to start, just start. 

Don’t jump into trying to paint a masterpiece right off the bat, that comes with a lot of practice. And you can do it, if it is a dream of yours, but it is not necessary, creating is what heals us, but not if we are so frustrated that we give up.

What will you do to start creating, share your ideas with me.

Have an Amazingly Creative Day,
Larissa 

​PS. If you haven't tried Art Quirks drawings, give it a try it is super silly and fun.  Pick something to draw, start with your face or a flower if you like. Blindfold yourself and draw it in pen (no pencils here). Now uncover your eyes and laugh at the fun,  get out your colours and add to it (eyes wide open).

​You can watch the video here.

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