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I’ve been talking with some of our readers, and wanted to see what y’all’s needs are. One of the topics that came up is navigating this busy, modern, draining world and making time for creativity.
I am guessing many of the people in this group are energetically and psychically very sensitive. And while technology has afforded us so many luxuries and conveniences, it can also attack our energy. Couple that with our modern culture of being busy, busy, busy, it’s no wonder many of us want to stay in bed on the weekends and hide.
And while yes, having boundaries can be important, we don’t want to shield ourselves from the world so much that we are taken out of the game. Because the world needs us to show our pretty faces and create.
Why Is Modern Culture So Exhausting?
Let’s start with our phones. Being connected to the internet at all times means that are receiving notifications all dang day. Not just through email, but if you use social media, and even notifications related to business and work.
One thing I realized when I burned out from working in healthcare was how sensitive I am to the radiation that comes from the phones. When I quit work, I’d turn my phone off for 12 hours a day (during daytime), because I found it to be so draining!
As I’ve regained my energy and strength, I’ve been able to keep my phone on like a normal person, but I still have boundaries around when I keep the phone off (more on this later).
Some of us are also sensitive to WiFi itself. WiFi also emits electromagnetic energy that can affect us! We have to be aware of what affects us, so that we can create the appropriate boundaries to thrive!
Adding in a culture that prides itself on doing constantly, and feeling shameful or guilty for not doing, now we have extra pressure, which also uses up mental energy and space.
What Can We Do??
Here are some tips that I’ve garnered over the last couple of years to make things a bit more manageable.
Make self-care a priority - having a meditation or daily spiritual practice that grounds you and allows you to connect inwards can help you realize what your needs are from moment to moment, take stock, and adjust accordingly.
Take time, whether at work or not at work, to recharge: This can include taking mindful breaths in between appointments, going outside for sunshine (sunshine is a great remedy for technology overload), eating on time, moving mindfully throughout the day. Going at the pace that your body wants to go, even if it’s slower than you expected.
Turn off the phone!!! Or take conscious breaks - I turn my phone off at 9pm every night. Sometimes earlier. I sleep with the phone off, and if I needed an alarm, I’d get an old fashioned plug in one. I try not to answer anything on the phone until after 8:30am each day. When I walk the dogs, I don’t take the phone with me for the most part, because I want to enjoy the sun and be present. These steps can make a big difference by moderating how much tech energy you are consuming.
Consider offing your WiFi if you’re really sensitive to it - I don’t personally do this, but I’ve seen this recommended in the book: Energy Healing for Empaths.
So, the next part of this was making time for creativity. After quitting my job in healthcare, I’ve started an at-home bakery, a dog-sitting business, an energy healing business, and spiritual life coaching. Before I quit, I was burned out and still started and continued this blog! So here are my tips no matter where you are in life!
How to Make Time for Creativity
After you’ve established your daily spiritual practice, it’s time to incorporate creativity. No matter how busy or tired you are, creativity is essential for our well-being because your creativity fosters your connection to your vitality and life force!
Here’s what I recommend to make time, even if you are busy or drained.
Write every day: as recommended by Julia Cameron, “Morning Pages” is writing 3 pages of stream of consciousness daily. It does wonders for your creativity. It allows you to brain dump all the junk that is stuck up in there and you’ll start to see ideas and synchronicities coming through for you. It will only take you 15-20 minutes, and it’s a mental health savior. (but please engage with a mental health provider if you need to!)
Treat your creativity like a lover: Julia Cameron talks about this in The Right to Write and Elizabeth Gilbert talks about this in Big Magic. Both great reads. When we “steal kisses” with our creativity, just like a lover, it makes the relationship more fun and exciting. Maybe you can’t spend all day with it, but a few moments each day would be great! Plus, when we pursue our creativity, we create the opportunity for it to pursue us. Don’t we all wanna be pursued sometimes? ;)
See your creativity as a way of living, not just doing: when you invite creativity to dance with you, it starts to permeate every part of your life, not just your “art”. And remember, art doesn’t have to be just painting. It’s how you approach everything. How you creatively solve problems, how you intuit and carry out ideas, how you design and schedule your days. It is unique to you, and it can be so many different things!!!
Allow for spontaneity: the best way to engage in creativity is to allow things to spontaneously unfold. This means being present and surrendering to what is, even if it went in a direction you didn’t intend it to. Maybe that includes day-dreaming, sitting around doing nothing, or taking a shower. Creativity will find you!
And here are a couple of regular day examples of creativity from my own life.
Example #1: My Brother’s Birthday
It was my brother’s birthday recently, and I made cookies to send to New York. I needed the right size box to send the cookies in, so that they wouldn’t break during shipping. The morning I was supposed to send his gift, I went into my pantry searching for a box. I came out with a box of unpopped popcorn, removed some of the bags, and put his cookie tupperware in. I left one bag of popcorn in there as a buffer/packaging material.
The package arrived at his house without even one cookie breaking! And now he gets a bag of popcorn for a movie night. Win-win-win!!!
So you see, this wasn’t a huge piece of art or a crazy, groundbreaking move. It was just a moment of creative spontaneity that I allowed to happen that led to the highest result.
Example #2 - Is Dog Sitting a Creative Endeavor?
At first glance, maybe you might think no. It’s walking and feeding and housing the dog, right? Think again!!!
I was feeling particularly artsy when I took a picture of my client’s dog’s paws and Rocco’s paws touching. They were just so cute together I couldn’t resist! I love dog paws!!!
Turns out this photo was my client and her husband’s favorite photo!!!! Out of all the photos I had sent all week! Good thing I was bold enough to send it 🙂
So as you can see, creativity is all around us, waiting to be captured like a picture of dog paws :)
The Last Thing I’ll Mention - Creativity is like Exercise - It Gives You Energy!!!
I know a lot of busy people wanna say, “I’m too tired, I can't do it.” But when you give it a chance, it will energize you, because life force is flowing through you. Then afterwards, you’ll feel tired, but satisfied, because you used your energy in a meaningful way. And isn’t that how you want to spend your energy anyways??
Wrap-Up
I hope this post allows you to see that you are already creative now! Finding and expressing your creativity is essential for your well-being, as well as your soul’s purpose. No matter how busy or drained you are, there are steps you can take to protect your energy and focus it in new places.
You do not have to be a painter to be an artist, unless you want to be!! Who you are is already a wildly creative artist. You just have to give yourself a chance to flourish.
So go out there and create!!
Thank you for reading and have a great week!
Angeli
“Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul — and you answer.” ~Terri Guillemets
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How to Navigate A Draining Modern World and Make Time for Creativity