The Healing Powers of Creativity

    Have you ever wondered how being a creative can impact your wellbeing? Studies show that you receive the same health benefits in spending time creating as you do as participating in yoga. Being creative increases positive emotions, reduces anxiety and depression, and can even increase immune system functionality. There have also been scientific studies that have shown art increases improved memory  and reasoning and creates a higher level of resiliency in older people.

Harvard Health recently conducted a study and its results were powerful. They concluded that artistic creativity encourages connection between your thoughts, the emotions that your feeling, and feelings that your having in the present moment. Some of the benefits that were documented in their study were; improved cognitive and psychological measures, improved quality of life, body image and an individuals perceived health. Art is a great way to work through stress, an overflow of emotions (either positive or negative) and to allow them to escape your system and be released into the world, thus alleviating the potential for a negative impact on your health if your experiencing stress and anxiety.  

For those who have experienced trauma, adults and children alike, art can be a powerful opportunity for healing. Whether your picking up embroidery, pencils and charcoal to sketch or doodle, or painting on canvas and/or furniture. Through the act of creation, you allow your mind the opportunity to escape and your body to release it's emotions through your creativity. You don't have to be an "artist" to create. It's important to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you should allow your intuition to be your guiding force when you create. You might just be amazed at what you can create when you don't overthink it and just allow yourself to be free in the moment and see where your artistic self takes you. 

Have you experienced adverse childhood trauma? Of maybe in your adult life you have just been through some shit. And you need to regroup. It's important that we embrace our emotions and allow our minds and hearts to feel and work through those feelings and emotions. Especially for children who may have experienced trauma in their young lives. Honoring their mental health is our obligation as a society. You can learn more about adverse childhood experiences and how they impact our health and wellbeing well into adulthood by clicking here. 

Additionally, know that whether your working through the negative or positive in your life, art can impact your wellbeing either way. So pick up some paint brushes, grab your needle and thread, or get out a pencil and paper and start creating! An art colleague of mine, Sabrina Plamondon, recently shared a piece of abstract art she created. This piece is titled 'Free to be Free,' featured here: 

Sabrina states; "In creativity I found freedom. A world safe to be me, to explore, to not have to be perfect. I felt God as I went to another world. I felt love, and finally I found light. My art is meant to share our unspoken truths, show how connected we all really are, and to share dreams. I want to offer you a place to be safe and to just be." You can find more of Sabrina's art work for sale on her website, including Free to be Free, at www.SabrinaAnnDesigns.com.

So go grab some art supplies and get creating!

 

Introduction - Art & Psychology

    Being my first blog post, I wanted to share with how Art and Psychology tie in together in my mind, and how I envision both topics when I am creating a piece, in particular my furniture. 

Think about when your at a thrift store or a flea market and you see this old beat up piece of furniture. It has deep scratches and scrapes across it, maybe a leg has a crack in it, or it has deep gauges. You look at this piece and think, 'this is a wreck, I could never use something so ugly and messed up in my home.' 

We are all a lot like that piece of furniture. We have scares on us and in our hearts from life and our experiences sometimes allow for us to look worn down and beat up. We might appear to be like that piece of furniture, our situations and decisions make us not so attractive to others. And maybe some folks pass us up, not being helpful or even sensitive to us and what has made us looks so scarred and 'scratched up' in life. 

Just the piece of furniture that is often overlooked, so are we. We all need someone to come along side us and use their creativity to see the potential that lies beneath the wreck! With the furniture, as is with us, we need washed up, sanded down, filler in the areas that are full of deep gauges from miss-use and miss-treatment, and then a fresh coat of bright beautiful paint. Sometimes the furniture, and ourselves, go a step further. We can accessorize ourselves. In my furniture world this could be a set of drawer knobs that are over the top, a furniture transfer or something else cool like a rice or decoupage paper. For us, our accessories can be our make-up, beautiful jewelry, or even something simple like our smile. 

Once this piece of furniture has been loved on, helped out, and cleaned up; it shines again. Much like we do when someone comes along and loves on us, helps us out, cleans us up, and makes us feel and look shiny and new again. In that moment, this piece of furniture is staged and set out for sale. And for us, in the moment we are refurbished, others also begin to take notice of us in a different light. 

It takes passion, imagination, and a lot of creativity and elbow grease to take a piece from drab to fab. Just like ourselves, often times in our lives. The key is to look beyond what meets your eye in that moment, to release your imagination and see what lies beneath. The same is with us and we sometimes need people to look beyond what they see and focus on what lies beneath our surface image. 

So you see, art and psychology go hand in hand. And imagination & creativity are pertinent in every area of our lives. If we can look beyond the surface, there is sure to be something beautiful waiting for us in the end.