Creativity = Rest: Survival for the Innie

Aug 11, 2014 | Create Art, Therapy

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For me to get rested over the weekend, after a week’s work, I require three things.

  1. Decent Sleep, Exercise, & Nutrition
  2. Solitude, and
  3. Creative Time

The first goes without mention, but I put it here because if I get #s 2 and 3 on the list but eat a bunch of sugar and processed food, I’ll feel like crap on Sunday night and resent that my break is coming to an end. So, good eight-hour stretches on my Tempurpedic, lots of green leafy vegetables, plenty of walking or yoga time, absolutely required.

Second, if I’m stuck with people (even loved ones) the whole weekend, or every evening of the week, I become irritable, and almost without realizing it, I start to despair. I’m an innie and I need at least a few hours completely to myself to let the batteries recharge. When this gets interrupted, I pay for it in a kind of headachey fatigue that makes me want to crawl under a piece of furniture and hide for a few weeks.

Third, and the reason for this post. I need some kind of creative time in order to fully meditate myself back into alignment with the universe. Time in my writing journal.  Time in my art journal. Time at a canvas or cutting bits of paper for collage. Time painting bookshelves or walls. Time strolling an uncrowded flea market for inspiration.

If I skip #3 over the weekend because I have too much paperwork to catch up on or I have too many family demands, I feel cheated. That’s right – pissed off. I resent having to help people with their problems all week while I feel depleted in my own body and life. My thoughts muddy. I start to feel hopeless that life can ever be more than work.

Creating gives me hope. It takes me deep into my Self . . . my Higher Self. To the parts of me that I don’t get to explore when I’m working or cleaning the house or sitting at my son’s swim practice (although working and cleaning and watching my boy swim bring their own kinds of joy). I lose myself in color and shape when I collage or paint or play my piano. I literally focus ALL my energy there and something comes back to me . . . a kind of gentle electrical charge.

And then I’m good. I get a burst of clarity. I get an epiphany. I reorganize the spice drawer. I feel at peace, realigned, ready for the week.

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