Tap Creativity To Find Your True Self

For many of us when asked about our true nature, we jump to the labels and boxes we’ve slowly been assigned since birth and most if not all of those assignments have to do with our physical bodies and outward achievements.

This isn’t to say your gender, social life, sexual orientation, political leanings, career or material possessions are all irrelevant. Not at all. Rather to ask, what if there is more? What if I am more? And what if figuring that all out could be as simple as engaging my innate creativity?

As someone who has used (and is still using) process art as a means of self discovery, I can tell you that using basic art supplies and curiosity continue to play a big part of uncovering my truest self. I’ve explored my shadowy bits as well as what joy feels like with just some paint and paper. The willingness to become interested in what is arriving on the page and my thoughts and feelings about them softens me. And it softens the edges of what otherwise might be something hard for me to look at. I am creating comfort with color, images and movement. It is in this space my self discovery happens and where I find my true nature. This is what works for me. And not everyone is drawn to the same thing.

Self Discovery Is Not A One Size Fits All Situation

It’s quite possible you aren’t attracted to the visual arts. I am acutely aware that the word creativity can be triggering for many because our beliefs about being creative may have been limited as well. So many of us were shut down early in life by a well meaning teacher or parent as they told us the color of our sky was “all wrong” or perhaps grass wasn’t purple. But what if you considered the idea of creativity as a way to access a part of yourself that doesn’t necessarily have to do with art supplies or musical instruments? What if it could be about simply activating and engaging the right brain?

The right brain is where your creativity lives but it’s also home to your intuition, imagination and emotions. I know from my own creative practice that engaging this side of the brain has a way of dropping me down into the space of my heart. Less doing and more being. It’s there I find less head chatter and more feeling into what comes next. And it is in this space I have begun to uncover my True self.

So how do you engage the creative self and cultivate your true nature? Here are some ideas to get you started.

Visual Arts

Buy some crayons and color or scribble. Use paint and get your fingers involved. Play like you played when you were a child and paint a green sky and purple grass!

Writing/Journaling

Begin an unedited writing practice and jot down what you are feeling in the moment. Write down words, phrases or song lyrics that call to you (you don’t need to know why, just that you feel something when you hear them). Try asking yourself a question and answering it with your non dominant hand.

Cooking

Cook or bake something special for yourself or a loved one. Don’t worry about how it will look or if you will get it right. Just do it for the fun of it.

Music and Movement

Turn on some of your favorite music and sing along and dance. Or both! Move your body any way that feels right for you. Hum if you like…that’s good too.

Nature

Allow nature to engage your senses. Take a walk or simply step outside and look up at the sky and watch the clouds. Hug a tree or simply stand next to one for a bit. Listen to birds or the wind. Feel the cold on your nose. Smell the rain.

So who are you really? My guess is we all have a slightly different answer but when you boil it down it’s my belief that we are magical and powerful creatures with untapped abilities buried deep within just waiting for us to awaken and nurture. And at our core, we are pure love.

This essence is asking to be found as more of us wake up to the idea that there is more. That we are more. Engaging your creative energy (and your right brain) is one place you are sure to find it.