Last WW’s column was about shaking things up to wake your brain from its wintry slumber. The sun has encouraged us this week, and more people are out and about, reminding Body that we’re not trapped. Stress can activate the flight or fight, but if we’re stuck in front of a screen it’s going to go to freeze instead. It’s good Body is getting out more.
Brain needs some love too. If you are feeling anxious or in a rut, shaking things up helps move you out of the stress/dissociate cycle. Remember, curiosity and awe are antidotes to terror. Creativity encourages both.
If you are what some call a “left brain” person, you might think art, improv, and play aren’t for you. But creativity helps the brain stretch in new ways. It can lead to innovation, improved mood and motivation, and aid in problem-solving. It’s good medicine.
Find yourself saying “I’m not creative”? Try this technique from author Julia Cameron (“The Artist’s Way”). Write a letter to the editor opposing that view and citing examples to the contrary. Maybe you’re a genius in the kitchen, making up recipes. Maybe you’ve made some marvelous engineering hacks on a machine that wasn’t doing quite what you wanted. Maybe you’re the go-to person for figuring out how to get people to try something new.
Meanwhile, get yourself to try something new. Play a creative game with friends. Join an improv group. Create some art stamps. Make a poem out of newspaper headlines rearranged. Do a self-portrait out of sticks, leaves and moss.
To get out of the headspace of being a “bad” creative, do some bad art, on purpose.Write a terrible poem full of clichés. Add a dumb verse to a dumb pop song. Paint an abstract acrylic using a fat brush in your nondominant hand, your mouth, or taped to your elbow.
Product isn’t the point. The point is taking a break from ruts, screens, obsessing over unsolvable problems. Shake it up and give a little nutrition to your muse. Send me results! With your permission, I’ll include them in a future post.
Til next time, be kind, loving and responsible to yourself and each other.
