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How often do you feel like you’re going through the motions and watching life pass by? It’s a rough place to be, and sadly this feeling of helplessness is becoming ever more common.
How do we climb out of it?
I’ve been there… In my experience, creative play offers relief to anxious discontent. And making play and exploration a priority is the key to more creative inspiration.
Read on to learn more about why we might be feeling low, how to follow our creative instinct and my favourite ‘Artist Date’ ideas to keep the inspiration flowing high!
WHY WE FEEL LOW
For all the convenience of living in a modern, city dwelling society, we still spend a lot of time wading through free-floating anxiety. When in this state, we can’t place exactly why we feel low. Then some of us might feel guilty for feeling low, because we don’t feel like we have a valid reason!
If we dig deep, we may find the true sources of our discontent. But this modern world encourages very little time for self exploration! The culture is to work all day and manage side hustles to stay afloat. We carry burdens of financial worries, self-comparison, and dread made worse with each news story we consume to ‘stay informed.’ No wonder we are drawn to turning our minds off when we do have ‘free time.’
As so much of our attention is pulled away, our instinct is also to seek comfort in external things.
The pervasive culture of materialism conditions us into believing that we can fill our internal emptiness with acquiring more things, consuming distractions in the form of entertainment or waiting for the next big ‘thing’ to celebrate. These external comforts are fleeting, and they never leave us fulfilled in the long term. Comforts derived from consumption don’t address the root anxiety – discontent in our way of life. Discontent in ourselves.
Could it be that the reason so many of us are more anxious than ever is that the anxiety is a response to a system that’s inherently exhausting for our spirit?
TAKE YOUR SPIRIT’S LEAD
We don’t have to keep trudging along this way. It’s not how we are supposed to be!
We can find clues of our souls’ true nature in the playful, intuitive experiences of children.
As kids, our way of exploring the world was by play and imagination. As we got older, we learned that we have to be serious and seek success in the physical world. Our minds get so busy, our internal monologue always swimming in a sea of worries, that play is often the last thing on our minds.
The thing is, just as the imaginative child intuitively knows to make up stories for fun – the souls in our adult bodies crave a free-flowing sense of play, discovery and creation.
Carl Sagan once said, ‘we are a way for the cosmos to know itself.’ If each human spirit is the universe experiencing itself through our unique perspective, acts of creation return our physical bodies closer in unity with the cosmos. And that’s why getting into a flow of creation creates a deep inner fulfilment.
So if a consumption focused culture is increasingly anxious, and if the opposite of consumption is creativity, it only makes sense that to ease our discontent we must put more energy into our creative practices… right?
While many of you will wholeheartedly agree… I can feel the resistance from some of you who are thinking, “I’m not very artistic. I’m just not a creative person!”
That’s silly. As a human being we are all divinely creative creatures. We have the ability to alchemize something from nothing even with our words alone… tracing back to the history of our ancestors sharing stories under starlight.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s chat about how we can nurture the creative spark in each of our hearts.
CULTIVATING CREATIVE ENERGY
Some days we are blessed with creative inspiration and if we are wise, we surf those waves. But we don’t often wake up feeling inspired. And if we always wait for inspiration before we create something, we won’t be creating very much at all.
We should first decide to make nurturing our creative energy a priority. Taking care of our spirit in this way will fill our inner well of inspiration while also making our defenses stronger against the external things that would weigh us down.
We can empower ourselves by actively choosing activities that help us rise above the external noise. To immerse ourselves in creativity and exploration is to find antidotes to modern life’s existential suffering.
We schedule everything else into the calendar.
Why don’t we schedule sacred time to follow creativity as well?
This is the idea behind Julie Cameron’s Artist Date – a ‘once-weekly solo expedition to explore something that interests you.’
Notice how it’s not a ‘once-weekly scheduled time to create something.’ The goal is to follow the feeling of playfulness or wonder to inspire creative sparks in the future. The goal is simply to enchant our own consciousness.
How does this suggestion make you feel? Are you feeling resistance to it? If you are, you’re not alone – because glorified hustle culture has a way of making time spent for sheer enjoyment frivolous.
Because of this hustle culture that creates pressure to monetize every hobby, even creative play is considered ‘work.’ People who want to pursue art might view their creative practice more like putting in their hours to become a master rather than play. Others who would benefit from creative activities might feel like trying their hand at art is pointless because they feel they’ll never reach a professional level.
What a shame, because creative outlets offer release from the pressures we deal with day to day.
So let’s set sacred time for exploration with the sole intention of feeling present and engaged. Hold no expectations for this time except that it must happen, without fail, every week. Look forward to it as a form of self-love.
ARTIST DATE IDEAS
Of course, I have my own artist dates I rely on to help me keep my well of inspiration full; here are 3 of my favorites!
1. Spend time in nature.
Nothing resets my mood like spending time in nature. Whether it’s a walk around the neighbourhood appreciating the trees or out for a hike to find a beautiful new perspective, any nature time you can manage will be good for you.
Tip: For longer excursions, pack a backpack with a snack, a drink, a journal and a pen. Take some time to write down your thoughts and observations with no expectation for what these words will become. Admire the natural surroundings, and if anything calls to you, take photos to jog your memory later.
2. Take a trip.
We need to shake things up sometimes to get a fresh perspective. What nearby places are there that you’ve always been curious to explore?
If you have a weekend to spare, find an AirBnB and immerse yourself in new surroundings.
While you’re away, seek out things that inspire your senses.
Delicious food local to the region? You gotta try it.
Local museums and art galleries? Be curious and check it out!
Sit in a park and just people watch? Bet you can come up with some interesting stories.
3. Wander with no expectations.
We get so wrapped up in efficiency and productivity that having a clear schedule sometimes makes us feel like we are “doing it wrong.” But every so often, I love to have a day with zero commitments except wandering with no expectations and following where the flow takes me.
It’s a wonderful exercise in staying present and grounded.
Some other ideas:
- Watch a beautiful film
- Listen to an albums from start to finish
- Watch an inspiring documentary
- Listen to an uplifting podcast
- Make healthy, cleansing food
- Read a book
As a bonus, here are my top 3 books that have gotten me to stop thinking so hard and just create:
- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
- Big Magic: How to Live a Creative Life, and Let Go of Your Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
- The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Creative Inner Battles by Steven Pressfield
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I hope reading this helped you remember that within you is creative energy just waiting to express itself. Take away any expectations you have about art and creativity and make play a priority.
Remember, it’s our true nature to be free, creative and playful as souls inhabiting human bodies here on Earth!
Even our personal transformation is a form of creativity. We are always creating a new version of ourselves.
Step away from distractions that only entertain you at a surface level and choose to spend time enchanting yourself with sights and sounds that uplift your consciousness. Doing so fills up your well of creative energy. Entertain creative outlets and you’ll find yourself more resilient to negative external influences.
Which of the Artist Date ideas listed above calls out to you the most? Choose one then schedule a time for your very own Artist Date. Then tag me on Instagram to show me what you’ve been up to!