Creativity Fosters Joy
by Starcat

“What the artist or creative scientist feels is not anxiety or fear; it is joy. I use the word in contrast to happiness or pleasure. The artist, at the moment of creating, does not experience gratification or satisfaction…Rather, it is joy, joy defined as the emotion that goes with heightened consciousness, the mood that accompanies the experience of actualizing one’s own potentialities.” – Rollo May

For the past few months, I’ve been writing a new book. It’s called Cultivating Self-Love, and it’s based on my own experience of learning to love myself. As I began to work on it more consistently, I fell into a rhythm. Each weekday morning when I got up, I wrote for about an hour. As time went on, I began to look forward to the process of writing more and more enthusiastically. It was becoming the highlight of my day.

But why? I was curious about what had shifted, why I was having so much fun with my daily work of writing. I watched a video interview with Esther Hicks, where she was talking about which of Abraham’s suggestions had worked most consistently for her. She said that one of the best pieces of advice they gave her was to focus on the things in her life that worked well. From there, the energy of success would spread out into other areas that were perhaps more challenging.

That was a clue – my writing was going especially well, so by putting my focus there, I was not only enjoying it in the moment, but encouraging those energies to permeate throughout the rest of my day.

In addition to that, I ran across the concept that we, as humans, are born to be creative. From the earliest days of childhood, when allowed to play freely, we imagine and create. Often, as we grow older, our creative capabilities are shut down or muted by the daily grind of school and work. We are expected to focus on other people’s ideas of what we should learn and do, rather than follow our own passions. But when we once again allow our imagination free reign, our spirits soar.

This renewed focus on our creativity is something that often happens later in life, when we have established ourselves as adults yet grow weary of that daily grind. We decide to delve into our passions, to follow the things that light us up. We might make them into a new career, or dedicate our free time to our most beloved hobbies. In doing so, while we will most likely face challenges, we are engaging our deepest purpose for being here.

I’m convinced that focusing on your creativity, whatever that means for you, helps to bring more joy to your life. Think about the things you most love to do, or perhaps the pastimes you were excited about as a child. I’m willing to bet there are aspects of creativity involved, from inspired ideas to traditional art to creative problem-solving to design and implementation and beyond. Now, find ways to integrate your creative passion into your daily life. Try it, and notice the joy that starts creeping in around the edges as you engage your creative spirit.