Gifts of the Creative Act
how making art of (our) nature serves the heart
In This Wonderful World, the creative art can support through life’s hard times, which happen whether I like it or not (and no matter how hard I try to avoid them). However, this kind of acceptance has not come easy, as I’ve spent much of my life with depression and anxiety, afraid of what might come to be, and disabled by what’s already hurting.
I’m not alone. According to the National Institute on Mental Health, “an estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults had any anxiety disorder in the past year [and] an estimated 31.1% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder at some time in their lives.1” Similarly, according to the American Psychiatric Association, “nearly three in ten adults (29%) have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives and about 18% are currently experiencing depression.2”
What’s more is that in an attempt to soothe my mental state, I often tried to self-medicate. But these attempts to numb the pain never made it go away, and often created side-effects that made things even harder to maintain. Again, I’m not alone here as “mental health conditions like anxiety frequently co-occur with substance use disorders.3” In fact, “an estimated one-third of people with major depression also have an alcohol problem.4”
All this to say: we humans need tools to help us cope with life’s pains.
Here’s how the creative act help me navigate depression and anxiety:
Let’s start with the fact that my life has liquidated more times than I can count. Erupting volcanoes, infectious diseases, and economic droughts are but a few of the sudden disruptions that have turned me upside down, scattered all my pieces, and dropped me to the ground. In these times, I have four strategies to help me endure.
In any case, the creative act supports me with all four of these strategies. Here’s how:
Cathartic Release: Expressing my difficult feelings through song and story is a powerful cathartic experience that allows the difficulty to move through me, rather than get stuck in me. Fully feeling the full range of emotions helps to unpack the transformational calls to change that are often hidden within difficulty. That being said, I’ve also found that if I spend too much time in catharsis, I can get stuck there too. Yes: it’s an essential part of my process to express grief, rage, fear, or despair, but it’s also important that I reach out of there. This is why I commit to include a question that points to the possibility of peaceful resolve, affirmation, and/or gratitude in everything I create. Indeed, even if the art is cathartic, I commit to keep a little speck of light in it.
Present Moment Preservation: When things are hard, focusing on the little gifts of life is not always easy. Indeed, pain is made to get my attention (and so is worry). So, to support my ability to appreciate what’s still alive in my life, I make art of it. The kinesthetic aspect of art is helpful when sitting meditation feels impossible due to extreme pain or anxiety. Creating art is an embodied practice of focus where the subject of my creation is amplified by my concentration. So, when I look at the moment to see what’s still breathing, I carefully highlight it through my creating. This practice of creative focus energizes me and helps me to make it through.
Nature’s Proof of Good News: In hypnotherapy, one of the most important parts of creating an effective suggestion is that it’s believable5; it has to feel true for it to work. However, in my hard times, imagining how things are gonna get better within the details of my life can feel impossible. Nothing good feels real. This is where I lean on the silver-linings of nature, which are irrefutably true: Poop does make compost. Rain does water the trees. Fire does purify the forest. Everything in life’s cycles has an important purpose. Nature’s silver-linings are pathways to gratitude that look straight at what’s lost and still find thanks for what I’ve got.
Creative Empowerment: Every blank page exercises our creative power. This empowerment ripples into all of our lives, growing confidence in our ability to create something wonderful with what we’ve got.
Generating Hope: The gifts of reflective arts are amplified when they’re in service to the world around me. When I’m in despair or fear, even the littlest offering of help to another proves that I’ve still got something to give and that I’m still connected. Then, when I make art of that service, I anchor within me evidence that things are getting better. This I know because I’m a creator.
All this to say: even as pain is pain, no matter the frame, and grief is grief no matter the gain, in my toughest times, it still helps to keep a wider view by my side, not as a denial of the parts that hurt, but as protection from the despair taunts and that lurks. Reflective Arts supports me in times of anxiety or depression by keeping me focused on the present moment, the big picture, and the infinite power of my heart.
Let’s Do It Together 💗
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression#:~:text=Nearly three in ten adults,late teens to mid-20s.
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/co-occurring-disorders/anxiety#
https://www.addictioncenter.com/dual-diagnosis/depression-and-addiction/#:~:text=Depression is common among people,also have an alcohol problem.
https://www.ukhypnosis.com/2010/08/06/the-rules-of-hypnotic-suggestion/#:~:text=5.,is%20worth%20a%20thousand%20words.