Finding Passion

Everyone struggles with issues in life.  I've had my share of struggles, bouts of what I guess you'd call depression because I just lost enthusiasm for most things.  It's not easy to get back into the swing of things, but as long as we keep trying, somehow it will all work out.  

And for the last couple of weeks, I've felt a lot better lately.  I just needed to find something that helps me get past the struggles.  Writing here has been a big help.  But I've also located a photography challenge, a word assigned every day as a topic for a photo.  Sometimes they're easier to consider than other times, but that's the part that I like most.  Something I can think about and then something I can do that makes me feel creative again.

On Forbes, I found "A creative act such as crafting can help focus the mind, and has even been compared to meditation due to its calming effects on the brain and body.  Even just gardening or sewing releases dopamine, a natural anti-depressant.  Creativity reduces anxiety, depression, and stress ... And it can also help you process trauma."

Here's a small sample of the recent challenge words:   Waiting.   Keys.  Six pm.   Road Sign.  While these aren't particularly artsy, it's been fun thinking about something I enjoy doing!   So if you've been feeling a little off, try a little bit of creativity!!! 

Personal Space and Creativity

 One of my fav authors is Sarah Ban Breathnach when it comes to a self help type book.  She uses insights and thoughts to get women to think - at least that's how I use her books.  Today I started perusing Simple Abundance:  A Daybook of Comfort and Joy.  Each day there's a different thought and today's thought was about creating a space, a quiet place, in order to have some creativity, or at least create a space where you can find it.  

Unless you live alone, you probably don't have a room all to yourself; her suggestion is to create a small nook that's just your own, or at the very least, a bookshelf that's yours and yours alone.   Since I live alone, all the spaces in my home are mine, and yet I still feel the need to carve out my own space where I can let my creativity flow. 

Yesterday, it was at my computer.  I am an avid photographer and collector of photos.  So I took on the "job" of creating a memorial DVD of my sister's years on earth.  I was rater pleased with how it turned out, but it was a way to express my creativity, collecting the photos and setting them to music that suited my sister and her life.   But I also enjoy writing and feel that's an area that I've let slide in recent years.  In an attempt to correct that, I'm using the daily notes in Sarah's book to create my own  post on the topic.  

It is necessary that we acknowledge our creative side, and she tells us that we should "nurture our sacred creativity side".  I'd like to add my own thought because so many of us are working women, between job and house chores and down time, along with creating our own little niche of space, we should also carve out a niche of time as well to devote to our creative side.  Having yourself a space is a passionate reminder to attend to our private, artistic impulses, to reclaim our creativity.

Make a corner.  Create a bit of time.   Write.  Draw.  Dream.  Paint.  Dance.  

Be uniquely you!