Creativity and Health
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Stress and Illness
Creative Self
Our human essence goes beyond our intellectual gifts, even beyond our artistic gifts.
In contrast with any Artificial Intelligence, we humans demonstrate the likes of courage, compassion and caring.
Like any other kind of creativity
, these creative “self assets”
are impossible to mould or mass produce. Instead, they need space, "permission" and patience to develop on their own terms - and through their own, innate potential (just as one person's courage or compassion will always "look" different to the next person's).
Creativity takes us to whole new places and discoveries - not least our own creative self-discovery, and our discovery of others through meaningful, creative relationships. Our part is to offer our commitment, and our trust in our own, real experience and spontaneous humanity.
Along the way, the steps and leaps are the links of an integrity that’s unique and brings unity within us as well as outwardly - with our fellow human beings. Therefore, in those later paintings we know as unmistakably his, van Gogh’s true colours showed, but no more so than in his earlier works (even if his brushstrokes were coming more and more into their own). Meanwhile, van Gogh’s art was influenced by his contemporaries, as theirs was by his.
In one sense, our self holds consistency and keeps to one thread and identity. Yet we also advance and evolve, just as does the artist and the child who learns to crawl and walk, then run and dance the waltz.
Our creativity naturally flows over and takes care of its own refilling. But we need to play our part by being ready to engage and receive. Just as being physical keeps our blood pumping, our heart and brain - both of
these - are kept charged up with creativeness through exercising our love, joy and creative intelligence.
Life is a gift, and our heart makes sure we don’t miss a beat. Stay immersed in self-creativity, and we’re bound to know satisfaction that goes deep. To stay refreshed, wells need to be relieved of their harvest regularly; likewise, our self needs to keep yielding its creative release. So rather than let our creativity be squeezed, let’s know what it means to be truly living. Things go so much better when we realise this.
Meanwhile, watch out for “stress forces”
that wait in ambush and lurk full of mischief, like impatient compulsive desire
that shoves aside our heartfelt wishes, while filling us with make-believe “needs”.
Set free from stress, we can be alive to adventure, loving and confident to our very depths, wise and true to enjoyment and experience, and succeeding at what the human being does best: creativeness.