Your Inner Artist and Personal Growth

Pause for a moment and try to remember art class in middle school. Chances are you were one of two types of kids: the type who confidently navigated their way through paints and clay and charcoal and colored pencils whose artwork was proudly displayed at the end-of-the-year program OR the kind who miserably stared at the blank canvas in front of them thinking to themselves “I hate this.”

Many people (dare I say most?) do not consider themselves to be artistic. Often times, this is a direct result of their feelings that their art isn’t “good enough” – their words aren’t clever, their voice is too shaky, or their drawings lack finesse. Thus, they resign themselves to a lifetime of avoiding games of charades and karaoke parties for fear that they will be ridiculed or offer a sub-standard performance.

But ask anybody who considers themselves to be an artist and almost all of them will tell you that it’s the process of creating, not the end result, that keeps them coming back for more. They claim that taking the time to create something new (even when they don’t share their creation) actually helps them to live more fully.

And there seems to be some truth to this – at least from a psychological perspective. I would argue that all of us have a creative part of our brains that can (similar to a long jog or an hour at the gym) provide comfort in times of stress.

Allowing our brains to think creatively can be wonderfully therapeutic. We recognize this value for children and therapists who practice holistically have known this for years. And yet so many people do not take advantage of tapping into their artistic side as a form of stress relief or coping.

We are often taught to approach all stressors with only our logic brain – to search for a solution and think our way into relief. But, as with most things, using more than one tool makes solving a problem so much easier. When we open other avenues of thought, it’s amazing what we can learn about ourselves and the world around us.

Creativity sets the foundation for insight. It allows you to experience a situation, and yourself, differently than you have previously. In this way, you can discover knowledge about yourself that you might not otherwise become aware of.

We are very good at defending ourselves from this inner wisdom, but creative outlets can break down these defenses. Likewise, a therapist that is attuned to your creativity and encourages creativity in the therapeutic process leverages this potential.

Giving yourself some time to explore your inner artist doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Try a few of these options:

When you wake up in the morning, before you even get out of bed, grab a journal and start writing. Give yourself a time limit – any amount of time will work. Start writing and don’t stop until the time is over. Let your mind and your thoughts flow. Try not to worry about what it is you’re writing or even if the sentences connect to one another. And (most importantly) when the time is up, put down your pen and close your notebook. (Re-reading your unorganized thoughts will certainly trigger judgment which will defeat the purpose of the exercise). This technique, called Morning Pages (as featured in The Artist’s Way – a great resource for creative exercises), can help clear your thoughts and get your mind ready for the day
When you have an hour of two of free time, find a spot that you haven’t spent much time in. Bring a pencil and notebook with you and spend at least 30 minutes sketching something – anything! Try to throw yourself into the creative process without critiquing what’s ending up on the paper.
Go for a walk. Try choosing a path that you’re familiar with – one that you’ve taken many times. Bring your camera along and spend some time lingering on your walk, taking pictures of the things around you. By looking more closely in places that already feel familiar, you’ll have fun discovering new sights that you’ve never noticed – new ways to look at something, even when you’ve already looked at it a million times before!
Think about doing some type of home craft. If you have never done this before, be sure to check out our post on crafting here.

So, whether you consider yourself to be an artist or not, I challenge you to consider bringing creativity into your life. Write a poem. Take voice lessons. Paint a mural.

The end result may not end up in a museum – but who cares! You’ll be surprised at just how much you get from the experience!