Do you Doodle?

                                                                                          Photo Credit: Timeseeker 2019

Or make food? Or draw or Zentangle or paint or sew or bake or sing or dance or write or garden? Do you do something creative? Creativity feeds the soul. For me, it isn’t about whether or not I’m ever going to have an art sale or a show at a local gallery. My art is for me. It is about getting into that ‘zone’ where time stands still and I am completely involved in what is right in front of me. Creativity doesn’t have to be about “BIG ART” or writing a whole novel or whether anyone thinks it is awesome. It is about the act of being in the moment.

The moment to moment of life can feel empty, especially when we are focused on what happened in the past or worried about what might happen in the future. Such concerns take us out of now – the only moment we actually have – and into our heads, where life is not happening. Creativity does the opposite. When you get into whatever creative activity feeds you, you get out of your head into right now. Here, where life IS happening.

In a busy week, I find that it can be easy to rationalise that creativity isn’t important. It uses up time that could be productive, that I could use to do… what, exactly? To be sure, like everyone else, I have a long list of things that need to be done. In my home there are always things to tidy, to clean, to manage; my kids are adept at creating chaos! In my work life there is grading to do, lectures to create and forums to manage, yoga classes to plan, and goals and plans to bring to life. In the heat of these activities, carving out a time to create can feel like another burden. Oh no, I have to fit that in too?? And yet, when I do find the time to create, when I allow myself to let go of the monkey mind chatter of past and future, and just do the thing, it’s amazing how much more productive I am in the aftermath. “Unproductive” creativity is just the opposite. It’s time in which my soul regenerates, time where my patience and intuition is topped up, time in which my higher self has an opportunity to shine.

In your life, are there moments that you throw away, by scrolling through the highlight reel of someone else’s life on social media? Time that you waste by obsessing over past events that you cannot change? Maybe rehashing arguments that you didn’t have the right words to win (in the moment) but that are now stealing your happiness? Imagine, for a moment, what those moments might feel like if instead you did something that fed your soul? If you jotted down something that you are grateful for? If you planted a seed or watered a plant? Planned a nice meal or baked something tasty? Did some colouring, drew a picture or did a messy craft with your kids? Would you, perhaps, feel more fulfilled? Dare I suggest… happier?