Getting creativity can be a powerful tool for healing. Just allowing yourself to have FUN can be the exact thing you need to realign. 

I recently sat down for an awesome interview on my podcast with Tara Joy Andrews, illustrator and podcaster, and we talked about how powerful creativity can be for healing. (Check out the Podcast Episode Below!)

One of the things she brought up is how being creative isn’t necessarily about art. Creativity can be about planning a big project, organizing systems and procedures so the flow better, solving complex problems, planning building and street design, making an amazing meal, going for an adventure hike and plotting the journey. Really there are SO MANY forms of creativity in action, that you don’t have to be an artist or a musician or a writer to cultivate your creative genius.

So what is creativity? 

The Oxford Dictionary defines it as: 

Creative: relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas

Imagination is the key. And any time I think about imagination I immediately think about kids playing in sheet forts, filled with pillows or blankets, maybe it’s a castle today, a fort tomorrow, and a spaceship the next day. I think of long hours our dress up, in silly dresses, playing with makeup, to make myself look like a princess so I could go save the prince! I think of being a kid, curious, open, full of hope and imagination, ideas and possibilities.

What do you think of? 

Somewhere along the way, did you stop allowing yourself to imagine? Did it become “problem solve” with an end goal, a purpose, lots of hard work, pushing and forcing to “get things done”? 

Did you loose sight of the creative part, the fun part, the part that is playful, open, and dreamlike?

I know I certainly have. The truth, a life without creativity and imagination, is a life I never want to live. Creativity gives me freedom, allows me to express authentically, and often gives me peace. Imagination allows me to see new possibility, hope for a better future, and have something worthy in my life to go after.

I want to encourage you today, to take a moment and nurture your creativity. Paint a picture, go for a nature walk and collect objects, write a poem, solve a puzzle, or just lay out and day dream while watching the clouds. Let it light you up, allow yourself to be a kid, laugh, get messy, and have fun.

Most of all, let creativity heal you.

How has creativity helped you? Leave a comment below, I would love to know.