Creativity is a great way to actually express yourself. I remember one therapist asking me to draw how I felt. At the time I was filled with anger for life and I painted a red brick wall because that is how I felt. It is actually surprising that just doing that lifted a lot of the anger and was useful to me in lifting the mood. Another craft that I could share with people was making colored cupcakes. I used designs that I saw on Pinterest and shared the experience with youngsters in our area. Surrounding yourself with young people also helps you to lift your mood so try it. These are people that have reason to be anxious about life because they are just starting out and you may find that you have a lot of experience to offer them and that they make you feel very valuable indeed.
For men - perhaps model making is a good pastime. For women- knitting and crochet and traditional needlecrafts are all good because you see results and are using the creative side of the brain. I got into all kinds of crafts over the years from rug making to quilting and found that you always get a buzz from seeing what you have done finished. Another thing that creates fairly rapid results is pyrography or burning patterns onto wood and even fancy writing or calligraphy. With this, I managed to make some fairly good scrolls to give to people instead of greetings cards and incorporated things such as the words of poems that were suited to an accasion or the words of the Desiderata which are really positive words that help people to get their lives into some kind of sense and meaning. I gave these to memberss of the yoga class that I began to take part in because these are very positive people and I was able to contribute something positive in return, even though my anxiety and depression stopped me from being as social as I would perhaps have been in normal circumstances.
Remember that creativity works the side of the brain that people use less than the logical side of the brain and if you can balance up the two activities, you really can find a balancing point that is comfortable. Some people also enjoy writing and there’s nothing to stop you honing your skills at writing and joining an online writing group. These encourage men and women and you get to meet some pretty amazing people, but don’t get lost online. Remember that there is a real world out there and that sometimes, participating in it is healthier. If there are night classes for something creative out there, join and learn something new. That always helps you to feel better about your achievements.
The thing is to distinguish between that which is too hard and that which is fun to do. If you try to aim too high and you don’t have the level of expertise, you can actually find yourself feeling worse about your failure. If you go for something relatively easy to take on, you can achieve fairly easily and then go on to more complex things as a progression. For example, you may like making models of airplanes, but you wouldn’t take on the most complex kit first. Little by little, you build up your skills by trying easy projects first and feeling the positivity of achievement. Try making a list of things that are creative that you think you may like to have a go at, but don’t be too hard on yourself if you fail. Think of it this way - the fact that you tried something new is positive even if you were not much good at it. I know one person who had no artistic talent at all, but who enjoyed enormously painting the colors onto Mandalas. He bought the books of designs and simply filled in the colors and it lifted his spirits. It may do that for you as well, and it’s hardly rocket science.
Everyone needs a measure of suceess within their lives. Designing things for the house is mine and you can find yours in all kinds of creative areas. When you achieve, feel good about the achievement. When you fail, feel good that you at least tried something new and keep trying to find things until you hit upon the ideal creative outlet. You will because we all have that creativity inside us. If you look at children playing, their imaginations do not stunt their play. As we grown into adults, we put sensibility in the way of actually enjoying ourselves and sometimes you need to let go of that sensibility and simply enjoy a simple pleasure. Depression can take that away from you, but with all of the exercises that we have in store for you, you will find that your meditation and rest and relaxation will spur you onto much more creative pastime.
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