Dedicate Yourself to Spontaneous Creativity
"Spontaneous creativity is an affirmation of our deepest nature." ~ Richard Moss
People sometimes say to me, "I do not think I have much to express. I do not know if I have an authentic self. I do not think I have much inside of me." I always say, "Begin expressing yourself regularly. Intend to express yourself spontaneously. See what comes out. Your creativity will show something new about your deeper self."
If you are feeling bored, depressed or unimpressed with your life, it is helpful to cultivate a spontaneous creativity practice every day so your authentic self-expression can come alive and find its own living language. Even 30 days of spontaneous creativity will tell you something startlingly fresh about yourself.
We can often feel frustrated, resistant and confused when something new wants to come into our life. So, we can practice "wearing" a creative question. You might ask yourself, "What do I need to express right now?"
You might live your question within a dedicated journal and take 15 minutes a day to draw a mandala. Or, you might choose to write, paint or draw intuitively. Over time larger themes for your healing will emerge. Through regular creative practice, your vague subconscious rumblings become a clearer, living language.
"Only in spontaneity can we be who we truly are." ~ John Mclaughlin
Your Creativity Knows the Next Step in Your Life
Answers are always inherent in our questions. And, every day there is a new growth edge that we can access. When we sense into the "edge" of our inner life through spontaneous creativity, new information is revealed.
With determined questioning, the answers will come. Synchronistic signs, symbols and words will arise from within or without. Your creative imagery will form into an honest, original living language.
Life will come forward and speak to you because you have asked it to - because you have intended to express yourself, and because you have made the effort to sense beyond your regular, everyday habits.
Following Signs, Symbols and Inklings
Years ago, when I was contemplating moving to the big city from the rural mountain town where I was living, I ruminated about how people in my intuitive painting classes found it difficult to be spontaneous.
I was aware of how most people simply could not face a blank sheet of paper unless they had cultivated a lot of psychological, emotional and spiritual willingness. It is challenging to allow the repressed parts of ourselves to speak and be heard. Most often, resistance to spontaneous creativity reigns supreme.
Driving down the highway, questioning how I could teach spontaneous creativity in a better way, I got the inner message, "Teach collage!" I felt surprised enough to follow the directive. I had never tried making a spontaneous collage before. So, I took my insight seriously and began to explore.
Living in Creativity Every Day
When I tried spontaneous collage, I absolutely loved it. My collages flowed together with ease. As the multiplicity of imagery poured out of me, I began to see all aspects of my unconscious mind in visual form, and I began to emotionally heal.
Over the next many years I made hundreds of collages that helped me to know and accept myself more profoundly. Because of our varied negative and positive experiences, we all have many parts of our personality that would love to be properly seen, heard and integrated. Collage is a perfect medium to express these neglected parts of self.
Our accepted personality aspects are always out front and clearly visible as part of our social mask. The less accepted parts of ourselves hide in the shadows. Our hidden aspects of self will eagerly show themselves through spontaneous imagery. Creating spontaneously involves inviting something new and possibly not yet accepted into our conscious awareness so that it can become loved, healed and whole.
Overcoming Resistance
"Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."
~ Erica Jong
We are conditioned to fit in for our survival, and our spontaneity can sometimes feel dangerous to the guarded parts ourselves that try to maintain the acceptability to others.
Whenever you bring something new into creation it will likely be accompanied by doubt. There are many parts within that are longing to be seen, accepted and welcomed into loving wholeness. This conflict between acceptance and non-acceptance can be resolved through daily expressive practice.
"Imagine a time when we meet ourselves, with elation at the door, and invite ourselves in to become reacquainted with this 'stranger' who has loved you all your life.”
~ Derek Walcott - Poet
Expressive Arts Foundations - A Guide for Daily Creative Practice
I have created a course package that will gently guide you through a daily expressive arts practice to support full self-acceptance HERE. I recommend that you do the courses in the following order:
1. Dive Deep Art Journal Webinar: (3 Days) Learn what expressive journals can look like. Decide what you want to emotionally heal. Dedicate a journal & art materials to your practice. Devote yourself to a 30-day expressive art or writing practice.
2. 50 Expressive Art Journal Ideas: (30 Days) If you are wondering what kind art journal "theme" you could devote to your emotional healing, I offer 50 great ideas for dedicated healing journals as well as ten examples of themes I have explored for emotional healing. Choose one theme to commit to for 30 days.
3. Narrative Therapy: (30 Days) Write your own life story - freshly and spontaneously. Daily narrative therapy prompts build emotional awareness of how you presently see your life and shows an imaginative way out of the way you currentlysee problems. Each prompt takes about 5-15 minutes per day to complete.
4. Expressive Poetry: (10 Days) This poetry course uses magazine imagery of your choice to spark emotional poems that help you to express deeper aspects of self that you may not have met yet.
5. Intuitive Collage: (30 Days) The hidden language of our deeper emotions can more easily reveal themselves through imagery and visual symbols before they shape into words. Gain insight into your emotions with a daily ten-minute collage.
6. Symbolic Journeys: (45 Days) This 45-day course will support you to better understand the deeper signs and symbols that spontaneously arise in your expressive drawings, paintings, writings and collages.
7. Healing Difficult Emotions: (15 Days) Simple expressive art exercises such as painting, drawing and collage support you to begin honestly exploring emotional struggles such as worry, fear, frustration, fear, conflict, negativity, heartbreak and addiction.
If you follow all the prompts and suggestions in the order I recommend, you will complete 160 consecutive days of expressive arts practice!
You can purchase each course individually through the links above, or purchase the Expressive Arts Foundations bundle HERE.
