Guidelines for Creative Healing.
"And the Day Came When the Risk to Remain Tight In a Bud Was More Painful Than the Risk It Took to Blossom."
– Anais Nin
You cannot have courage in the absence of fear. There has to be a willingness to bring the fear accompanied with a bunch of uncomfortable emotions, feelings, and thoughts with you. It's the only way forward on the road less taken or the pathless path. A creative life invites in some valuable and delusional uncertainty.
Only how do you move forward when you don't know what is next? You practice, and you learn. You can find plenty of incredible beings you can learn from; dead, alive, or imaginative; it doesn't matter. Recognize their efforts, allow their work to inspire you, investigate their skillsets and nurture your projects like a seed that will blossom into a beautiful flower one day.
I have also learned some creative lessons along the way;
Embrace the playfulness of a child. A creative mind is similar to an illogical 5-year old. What is the purpose of creation without joy and play?
Trust your intuition and don't question it. Intuition is the first feeling, color, or idea that arises within your being.
If you have no clue what you are doing, keep on going; you are nowhere near the end.
Emotion is energy, and you can transform it into significance when you stay with it long enough.
A deep underlying story makes art interesting. You can assign any meaning to it, even if it doesn't make any sense.
Love what you do! You can create harmony by intuitively knowing when to hold on, let go, and move on.
Completion is a felt-sense experience. More often than not, the process takes longer than initially intended.
Don't fix your mistakes, lovingly embrace your imperfection and call it authenticity.
Nothing is for nothing. No form of art is useless. When it doesn't work out, call it practice.
No creation is good or bad. Thoughts of judgment belong to your ego standing on the sideline while your vulnerable and playful self creates. Please don't listen to it! You cannot control or predict people's reactions.
Reality unfolds in infinite layers. Choose one to begin with and one to wrap it up.
These lessons are the essential guidelines helping me navigate the process of creative healing.
What are the lessons you learned on your creative healing journey?
Don't forget to write them down ;)
I almost forgot, most notably: stand behind what you do and be willing to create what you want to create. Otherwise, it's never worth all the effort you have to put in.
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Painting “Blossoming” © by Sanne Ham