E66 - Find a Creative Passion to lower anxiety and create happiness
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Hello, my creative friend, welcome to another episode of Create Today with Beth Buffington. Now last week, we talked about how creativity can really bring happiness to your life and that the secret to being a healthy creative is finding a creative passion or passions. That allow you to lose yourself in the doing of whatever you are creating.
Now this week, I want to back up for a quick minute and talk about how we can find or reignite and then keep that passion bubbling away. So it stays healthy because my friend, your passion is a wonderfully safe place [00:01:00] where you're anxious or you're overwhelmed self. Can find a bit of well deserved respite.
Now it's important to have ideas for your passion at hand so you can do your creativity because as we've talked, it's in the doing that we give our frantic minds time to calm and find rest in the moment. The gifts and true transformations that creativity will provide when you allow yourself a bit of creative play is more than just making that next great creative thing.
so my friend, I want you to think of your creative passion, almost like, like a space, like that proverbial childhood fort tree house or hideout. Remember those? It's that space where you can escape the pressures of the world and just play. [00:02:00] My brother and I had this.
Big, gigantic box that a refrigerator came in. And when we were little, that box was like an entire room and we made it into this amazing submarine. We had a periscope and we drew all these. electronic gizmos and gadgets inside so that we could take ourselves to imaginary spaces deep under the sea. We had some amazing sleepovers in there
And when we were in our submarine, I was completely in a different place away from anything that worried me, I was just there with my brother. And we were having adventures. And that is the kind of space that you can create with your creativity and your creative passion.
Regular creativity enriches our hearts. It sharpens our minds. It reduces stress. [00:03:00] And sorry for sounding trite or cliche, but it truly nourishes our souls and it leads to being happier and healthier in heart, mind, body, and soul. Now, I love reading and I love listening to books. I always have two or three books that I'm either listening to or turning pages on.
And some books are so good that I do both. I turn pages while I listen. And I've just finished reading and listening to Martha Beck's Wonderful book, beyond anxiety, curiosity, creativity, and finding your life's purpose. Now in her book, Martha shares facts about anxiety. Who has it? And the answer is nearly everyone in some form.
And she talks about why we have it and how to tame your [00:04:00] anxiety just like you would a frightened animal. For me, the best part of the book is her deep, and I mean scuba dive, deep dive into creativity and the science inside creativity that makes it a vital resource to keep your anxiety from ruling your existence.
This book is a book everyone should read. Martha gives me the confidence to know that my creativity is everything I thought it was and more. Martha gives you a million reasons. I exaggerate why your creativity is a secret power that you need to let loose.
I laughed during this book and I seriously even burst into tears at one point. when you're reading the book and you get to the part about Griffen and the dog, make sure you have tissues handy.[00:05:00]
But one of the many
super cool concepts Martha introduces in her book is Her rag bag of curiosities. Now, Martha explains that a rag bag, if you grew up in a house where people sewed is a bag where scraps of old or extra fabric were collected. And These rag bags would hold a fascinating variety of scraps that were filled with different colors and textures and patterns.
And many of the scraps would also hold a story of the past life that the material had, a dress for a super special occasion, a sleeper from a baby who is now an adult, pieces of an old tablecloth where many holidays were shared, all kinds of amazing stories. Kind of like a rag bag. My mom had a really pretty tin canister that was filled with just odd buttons.
And as a little girl, I loved going through [00:06:00] this canister and sorting through all the different colors and sizes of buttons. Some of them were so pretty. They had little tiny sequins or shiny stones, or they were unusual shapes. And my mom had some really interesting stories about some of these buttons and hearing those funny or happy or sad stories about each one of these little buttons, made each of the small objects extra memorable for me.
Martha encourages us to make our own rag bag.
of creative bits and bobs, pieces of this and that, that pique our interest. These are ideas and images, experiences, photos, anything that catches our eye and makes us feel like creating.
She suggests. Collecting these ideas on bulletin boards, in binders, or scrapbooks, in folders, on [00:07:00] shelves, where we can actually see and touch them. And she even encourages us, yes, to keep these on our computers, our phones, our tablets. Hello Pinterest, the ragbag of the internet. Any place, anywhere, you can actually look at them and review them.
And you know, I love a good metaphor.
Martha's rag bag of collected fabric scraps is a metaphor that she uses as a place to house the collection of ideas or things that we find fascinating and that we might someday want to, pull out of that rag bag and use for our own creative play.
Now, I am a big believer in collecting and having a place, a space for what we have collected.
In the creative process that I use for myself, going four words with your creativity, where we focus on four words, [00:08:00] revive, realize, refine, and release that will help you organize and prepare And follow through on your creative passion
in episode 26, we really do a deep dive into that realize phase, which is where your collecting ideas. And then if you listen to episode 24, you'll just get an overarching view of my creative process. And if you're really interested inhow you can use this process for your life, check out my workshops on the website, www.
bdi create. today. And you can take the workshop about going forwards with your creative process. But the realize phase is the perfect home for Martha's rag bag. We need to save ideas because if we don't, we're only going to remember that we [00:09:00] once had a good idea, but we don't remember what it is, right? So when we are ready to play creatively, we have a scrapbook of super cool ideas to pick and choose from because they're in our rag bag. So having a collection of cool, super cool, and I can't wait to do this ideas a la Martha's book.
This is the perfect way to pre ignite our inspiration so that we have ideas that we cannot wait to use the next time we get to play creatively. So now, my friend, you know I love a good list, So, here's a list of ideas that will help you get your own creative rag bag started.
Number one, stay curious. And then pay attention to what draws your interest. What makes you think, huh, I wonder, dot, dot, dot.
No matter how small or how unrelated it may seem, if [00:10:00] you are curious about it, Remember it, collect it, and put it in your rag bag. number two, document your inspirations. You want to keep a journal, a sketchbook or a digital notebook, or maybe, um, several of these things that you're going to tuck places where you'll be able to access them when an idea strikes.
So you want to be able to jot down your ideas or save them in a folder if they're images. And these are going to be, you know, ideas, quotes, experiences, photos that you just find intriguing.
number three, collect cool stuff, gather objects that inspire you a sentiment that you find touching or humorous, a photograph that reminds you of something amazing that you experienced and oddly shaped rock.
A funny card, a color palette that made you want to start drawing or painting. Whatever strikes your fancy and gives you ideas you want to explore, [00:11:00] save them and keep them in a dedicated space where you can find them later.
Number four, explore new activities to keep adding fresh ideas to your ragbag. It's important to get out of autopilot, you know, doing the same things over and over and over thinking that you're going to get. New ideas from the same old stuff, right? So you want to try new hobbies or visit new places.
You want to meet new people so that you can expand your perspectives about people, places, and things that are different. from the way you see the world or think about the world right now. Number five, put your cool stuff where you can find it. So, a bulletin board or a shelf that's close to where you do your creativity.
You want to place things in a folder inside your [00:12:00] computer where you can access them at a moment's notice and scroll through all your beautiful oddities that you have collected. Number six, Reflect on your cool stuff regularly. So every now and again, spend some time going through and reviewing your collection to remind yourself why you collected it.
Identify patterns or reoccurring themes or colors or textures that resonate with you and give you ideas of something you cannot wait to start creating.
And remind yourself why you put this scrap in the bag in the first place. And remember what kind of creativity you wanted to make with this scrap.
Use this list to create your own rag bag by remembering to see and collect curiosities, you're going to create your very own rag bag of inspiration that can help you stay excited to do the [00:13:00] things that will keep your creativity healthy.
And happy and my dear friend, a wonderful source that can help you find those super cool ideas. are the resources and the creative community that you will find here at BDI Create Today. Inside Create Today, you'll find the guidance and inspiration and encouragement for your creativity.
Being part of the Create Today community provides workshops that help you explore various creative techniques or mindsets. You'll also find online courses and tutorials that teach you. Step by step, how to master digital illustration skills that you have been wanting to learn. And I highly recommend joining the Create Today membership, where you'll enjoy all of these benefits I just mentioned.
And more becoming part of [00:14:00] this vibrant, creative community can transform your life because it is a place where you can come and learn how to make your creativity blossom so that it becomes a vital resource to make you happier and healthier in heart, mind, body, and soul. And you know what? It's just a fun and easy way to keep your creative passions ignited.
And burning brightly. So I hope that you can see how easy it is to use creativity as a joyful resource to stir up happiness. And my friend, when used regularly, how your creativity can bring better health to you in heart, mind, body, and soul, Remember, your creative potential is limitless, but just like tending a fire, you must keep it stirred up.
[00:15:00] creativity isn't a do it once and you're golden kind of thing. It's a journey. It's a continuous process of having fun, following your curiosity on a path that leads to joyful discovery, realization. And all this happens by just playing with the creative ideas you've collected in your ragbag.
to take advantage of the creative transformation that you can find creatively, it's important to lean on resources that will keep your inspiration fired up. Things like Martha Beck's book, Beyond Anxiety, things like this podcast. Things like the Create Today community and the Create Today membership.
These are just a few of the wonderful ways you can keep your creativity nourished.
Thank you for joining me on Create Today with Beth Buffington. [00:16:00] If you found some goodness in these little creative nuggets consider leaving a message and let me know. But most importantly, share the Create Today podcast with a friend or family member who needs to reignite their creativity.
Until next time, keep collecting some super cool ideas. And no matter what you decide to make from the ideas in your rag bag, stay creative, my friend.
Visit www.bdi-create.today for workshops, online courses, the Create-Today Membership, and personalized coaching!
00:00 Introduction to Creative Passion
00:43 Finding and Keeping Your Creative Passion
01:38 The Childhood Fort Metaphor
02:52 Benefits of Regular Creativity
03:30 Martha Beck's Book Insights
06:31 Creating Your Own Rag Bag
09:33 Steps to Start Your Creative Rag Bag
13:12 BDI Create Today Community
14:29 Conclusion and Encouragement
Visit www.bdi-create.today for workshops, online courses, the Create-Today Membership, and personalized coaching!
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