To keep the world sane and balanced, we need creativity and art. There would be less madness and less chaos if more people allowed themselves to be creative. There would be more happiness. The art of any kind is comforting.
I kept seeing profiles of artists on the photo-sharing site. Artists are painting on a canvas. I used to sketch a bit, but never played with paint. I focused on writing instead of pursuing art. I had a crazy idea to try painting. I ordered paints, canvas panels and sheets, brushes, oil pastels, and pastel papers.
I had a bad state of depression last year, due to life changes and adjustment issues. I was unable to write. I couldn’t out word after word in my second novel. I didn’t want to open the manuscript file on my computer. I realized that I had to work with my depression to get back to my art, and that was enough for me. Writing helps me get through low times, but it took a backseat in my life when I was in the throes of depression. It made me feel worse because I wasn’t able to do the thing that would lift me up.
An alternate path for creativity to flow. I was surprised to find that I trust myself to do it, even though I painted in abandon. I painted to escape from depression. I resumed writing my novel after taking four pictures. Here is what art therapy at home taught me. I ventured with painting and it could be anything for you, so I was able to get away from my writer’s block.
I was depressed and had an excess of creative energy in me. When I painted, I noticed that the creative energy in my brain was slowly being drained out. The alternate path for this creative energy to flow helped to relieve the internal pressure and make me feel less guilty. Slowly but surely, healing came.
It was important to keep the flow. It’s time to let creativity go, be it words, colors, images or anything. When there is a block in the pipe, you need to give it something to help it move. To let the waters out, you need to open another valve.
I had to tell the world about the chaos in my head through writing. I was able to put the thoughts and feelings of worthlessness into colors through brush strokes. That meant something to me. Chaos is inherent to every creative soul and it has to be converted into something beautiful. The internal chaos can be unleashed.
Allow yourself to be free. It felt good to find another way to convert the chaos in my head into something enjoyable, if not one. It’s another way to tell my story.
I was able to paint a cup of colors over the blank canvas and make something enjoyable and feel liberated to face the world again. The liberation in art is what makes it so special. There is no argument that art is a form of expression. Any form of expression is a discharge of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. This is simply tipping a brimmed cup and letting out some of the fluid that’s in it.
While writing is a very active process, the idea of knotting one thread with another proved to be the opposite of what I wanted. Painting soothed my soul while I was writing. I found painting to have a calming effect on my brain after I wrote. The effect of playing with colors and allowing the brush to move over the canvas was important. The brain is refreshed and the soul is calm.
Even during a creative block. I would have pushed my limits after a long episode of writing. The painting allowed the soul to take over. Unlike writing a story with many characters and lives, painting was simply a conversation the soul had alone, and it was the only place to create something colorful on the canvas. When you are painting to refresh and calm yourself, there is no scope for a loophole.
Even if you can’t write, you can still be creative. That opened up a whole new world for me. When I feel blocked, I stop pushing myself and take out the paints and watercolors that I recently ventured with, and do something with it. Sometimes it is the same picture, sometimes completely different. A gift for a loved one. I am no longer productive or non-creative when I achieve the idea of producing something. There is not as much guilt to handle. If you did something creative, that would keep your spirits up, which is the first step to overcoming writer’s block.
Being productive is the hardest thing to do when you are in a writer’s block. Staying productive is an ideal state to be in, but it is not always possible. Productivity comes when you do something. As long as you produce something, it doesn’t have to be what you are meant to do. I was able to forget about writing and just enjoy painting, learning basics, and watching painting videos on the internet, and my confidence in this new arena grew.
Our brain is made up of a bunch of different cells. Each form of art requires a different set of cells to work with. We allow the writing-brain to take a break when we switch from one form of creativity to another. Procrastination is said to be the brain’s way of taking a break. We could use that time to engage other parts of our brain and do something that we enjoy. Many writers love sketching, traveling, cooking or baking These allow the various parts of our brain to take shifts and allow our main working part, the writing brain, to take a well-deserved rest. Taking on shifts.
You experience a whole different lifestyle when you embark on another creative art. It is likely to give you new ideas for your writing even if it is only for a short time. I got the ideas and experiences to write this article from painting. That is just one possibility. There are several. Art opens a door to possibilities.