A collection of paintbrushes in a holder on an artist's table outdoors

Hello Full Circle Besties! I’m so excited to delve into the topic of creativity and all that it means to me. It’s a subject matter near and dear to my heart and I have no doubt you feel the same. After all, it’s what brought us together and remains the glue that keeps our beautiful community together. Let’s dive in, shall we?

creativity: the sacred path back to yourself

For my 50th birthday, I took a mixed media course that changed my life forever. I had no idea that the creative journey I started all those years ago became a practice of coming home to myself, over and over again. Staring at the blank canvas brought up fear and insecurities. I had to embrace uncertainty and surrender to the process.

Simply put, what comes up for us on the canvas - insecurity, uncertainty, trust, courage, beauty, and joy - comes up for us off the canvas, as well. The canvas is a metaphor for life. And if I could lean into all the stuff that came up for me on the canvas and not abandon myself until I was finished, then I could do the same in my life.

So often when life gets messy and chaotic we want to run. We abandon ourselves. We numbly scroll. We distract. We anesthetize the big feelings. But what would happen if we could stay put through the messy, ugly, and chaotic parts - on and off the canvas?

Little by little, piece by piece, I’ve created a new way of being in my life. Silencing the noise, smooshing paint, tearing paper, and trusting my inner whispers has made me braver, more free. I am happier and more aware of the places that need tending and healing. What I know is that creating art is so much more than smooshing, tearing, stamping on a canvas - it’s a journey into our wisest, most loving selves and a reminder of who we want to become.

Let’s explore the ways we can deepen our creative practice to allow for self-inquiry, expansion, and more joy - both off and on the canvas.

Ditching the Rules and Staying Curious

One of the best ways to stay out of fear is to forget about the rules and stay curious. When I let my curiosity take the lead, fear moves into the background and possibility takes center stage. When you can step back and ask yourself “what would happen if I…” you’re inviting more play into the piece. An entirely different voice comes through. Here are some examples to get you started…

What would happen if I painted with my fingers instead of a brush?

What would happen if I closed my eyes and made marks?

What would happen if I turned the canvas around to see a different perspective?

What would happen if I used a color I wouldn’t normally choose?

Allow these questions to prompt you into quick, unconscious action. Forget about the rules. Forget about what your high school art teacher told you. Let your curiosity lead you to happy accidents, forward motion, and playful discovery!

Embrace the chaos and the mess

One of the reasons I was drawn to mixed media collage was that it acted like an antidote to the years I spent mass producing the same products over and over again. Mixed media was intuitive, spontaneous, and messy. It was playful and freeing, something I desperately needed, to help me become a better artist and a more soulful human.

When you’re looking at your canvas and it looks like an unorganized, chaotic mess, it is. It’s supposed to be. It’s the ugly phase of a painting and it’s natural and common. Almost every painting goes through an ugly phase. Don’t panic! The practice is not to rush through this phase. Instead, just allow yourself to make a big beautiful mess and surrender to the process. It’s no different than life, right? Sometimes in the midst of growth, change, and big transitions, it can be really hard to make sense of it all. Impossible to see yourself clearly. Painting is no different. When we stay present and sink a little deeper into the messy process we allow ourselves to get comfortable with the chaos on the canvas and in our lives off the canvas. Life is beautiful, chaotic, and messy just like painting. Embrace it fully! Watch the subtle shifts within yourself, too. Allow a little more room for discomfort and mess as you build your tolerance on and off the canvas. Let your life and canvas be imperfect!

trust yourself

This is a big one! Trusting yourself throughout your painting journey takes courage and bravery. Every painting goes through a process. The beginning is easy, fun, the layers have just begun. But the middle of the process is typically a hot mess. The colors are a big blob of ick. You have no clue where it’s going or how to proceed. It’s ugly and you want to cover it all up and start over. Don’t. The gold lies in sitting with the imperfections and uncertainty and continue taking risks and making fearless choices. Staying in the discomfort of it all and NOT abandoning the process will build our trust muscles over time. And what that allows us to do is trust our voices later and bring it all together in the final phase.

It’s important that we be kind to ourselves and our paintings during this ugly, awkward phase. Give yourself permission to sit in the muck a bit and appreciate the beautiful mess. The more we allow ourselves to do this the more we’ll be able to appreciate the beauty and growth that emerges on the other side. Trust yourself. You’re building muscles here!

stay brave and unattached

One of the best ways to gain confidence with your art making is to remain unattached to outcomes. Being unattached is really about practicing being fearless, and trusting that whatever happens, you can continue to make more brave choices in the direction of progress and forward motion. For example, let’s say you’ve created a layer in your painting that really, really speaks to you. You love it. You’re attached to it. But, the moment you treat your artwork like it’s precious, you become less willing to take risks and push out of your comfort zone. You’ve put yourself in a box and your artwork will suffer.

Here are a few ways to help you stay loose and fearless…

Tell yourself you're just experimenting. Stay curious here. Ask yourself “what would happen if I…

Cover up your favorite bit on purpose. It’s terrifying. And liberating.

Put some music on and dance while you paint.

Put notes around your work space that remind you to stay loose, fearless, and brave.

Work quickly. Don’t think. Just move.

What’s the scariest thing you could do right now? Do that!

follow your bliss

Ditch the rules that the experts tell you to follow and follow one simple rule: your bliss. Choose colors that make you happy. Choose collage papers that delight your soul. Get your hands messy because it makes you happy. All of that bliss makes your paintings uniquely YOU! Approaching our creative work in this manner is how we figure out our own voice, our own creative style. If you’re feeling the urge to plop down a big, glorious bird in the middle of your painting, DO IT! Follow your bliss. Choosing what delights us may come easy because we know ourselves, we’re tuned into what we actually yearn for, crave, and like - both on the canvas and in life. But for others, it may take more practice, and that’s perfectly fine. Keep practicing. Keep noticing.

Following our urges and delights is really about following the inner whispers toward what is calling us, what our hearts and souls are yearning for. It’s about allowing ourselves to be inspired and connecting to our wisest self, our true essence, our voice.

Whether it’s collage papers or paint colors, or the next job, or life partner, knowing what delights us and brings us joy and then honoring those brave choices and whispers is how we begin to really trust our own voices. It’s how we know our own True North.

Knowing and choosing what delights our soul not only becomes our map home to the creative brilliance that lives inside all of us, but it also helps us create a life that is authentically ours, that belongs to only us.

Creativity is a spiritual journey

In my mind, there is no greater teacher than creativity. It is a spiritual journey that brings us back to ourselves over and over again. It requires courage and bravery. It asks us to trust the inner whispers and allow the unfolding, even when we have no earthly idea where the process is taking us. But if we stay the course and embrace all of it - the uncertainty, insecurity, doubt, and chaos - our lives will be better for it, both on the canvas and off.

What I know for sure is that creating art is so much more than smooshing paint around the canvas, gluing collage papers, and stamping words. It’s a spiritual journey into our wisest, most loving selves and a reminder of who we want to become. Each time we show up at the canvas we are showing up for ourselves and learning a new way of being in our lives. Little by little, piece by piece, we’re becoming braver and more free. We’re tending to our hearts and healing the broken parts. I can think of no greater gift than that.

My hope for all of us as we deepen our creative practice is that we trust the journey and enjoy the ride!