The mere act of getting it onto the page, or whatever your medium may be, matters. Maybe it’s a scribble, a drawing or a word you wrote on a rock and threw into the river or a sand sculpture to be smoothed out and sent back into the ocean in the next high tide. Maybe you improvised a song in the shower, shook it out in a personal dance party, or broke out those unopened watercolors waiting patiently in the drawer. The purpose of our art and creativity and art is not to be perfect or to fit into the parameters anyone else sets for us; the purpose is to express what is within us.
Whatever form our creations take, or whether we share them with one person, a million people, or not at all, getting them out in the light through creativity to breathe in the open air allows our true selves to shine more. We light the way for others by lifting off the layers that dampen our glow so that they feel comfortable doing the same. If you do decide to share your creations, you’ve turned something intangible and hidden into gems you can hold, examining the different facets then passing along to others.
When we illuminate and bring out what is within us through creativity;
•We realize we’re not alone
•We make meaning together
•We show the truest most unfiltered version of ourselves (which is how we truly connect to others)
•We stop hiding our pains, and watch them start to look and feel different in the open air. They no longer haunt us like the boogeyman from the dusty closet.
•We bring healing to ourselves and others.
•We transform things we thought were hopelessly one dark note into something multidimensional that can be beautiful, humorous, cathartic, meaningful or a multidimensional combination of all of the above.
As a 12 year and counting chronic cancer “thriver”, diagnosed at the age of 27, I’m no stranger to things that feel too big to carry. No matter your particular variety of challenge (and there’s no comparison here), I believe that we all have treasures within us to unearth, and when we shed the light on ourselves through creative expression, we illuminate the path for all!
