Creative Play
Creative play has become a huge part of my life. However it wasn’t always that way.
After we adopted our 3 girls from Ethiopia, we had 9 kids between the ages of 18 months and 15 .Five of them were ages 5 and under. To say that life was busy is an understatement! Besides parenting and homeschooling, we were pretty much growing and raising all of our own food, trying to provide the best nutrition possible for our kids, especially our Ethiopian girls who had suffered malnutrition. Creativity suddenly took a back seat. I kept telling myself that in this season I didn’t have time for it and I would get back to it someday.
This was a huge mistake!
I was working so hard caring for the needs of everyone else that I was rapidly losing myself.
I read a quote once that said “An Artist who stops making art is committing emotional suicide. Get off the couch and start painting again.” I don't know who said it but boy is there truth to this. I wasn’t sitting on the couch…however, I was in essence committing emotional suicide. Part of me was dying. The stress of raising 9 kids, homeschooling, hobby farming, plus dealing with attachment disorders and behavioral issues, it was all taking its toll on me. My emotional and physical health were deteriorating rapidly. Even though I had access to amazingly nourishing food, I had neglected something as vitally important, I had nothing that nourished my soul.
Here is where creative play enters the picture.
Once I made it a point to start creating again, I noticed that my emotional state started changing. As I explored different mediums, textures and colors, I could feel the weight of my responsibilities, stress and anxiety melt away.
Studies have shown that creative play allows us to be in the moment, much like meditation. Our bodies release endorphins that promote a feeling of well being. Creative play helps us to see and experience things in a new way and helps us to solve problems. It awakens our curiosity. What happens if I mix green with orange? Does watercolor react the same over gesso? What happens when I spray alcohol on it?
When we start to play creatively, we find we can express emotions that maybe we can’t put into words or that words can’t do justice for. We begin to feel a deep sense of release and we start to see ourselves in our art. I know that personally when I painted, I found what was lost… Me.
As an adult it is hard to allow ourselves the time that it takes to do something that seems so unproductive. However, I’ve found that it really doesn’t take much time and in reality we all waste a lot of time every day doing other things, like scrolling on our phones.
I often paint while my kids do school or my family watches a movie on tv. I will paint randomly on literally dozens of pages in my little journal with watercolor or acrylic, then keep it in my purse or nearby to doodle on when I find a few minutes or when I’m waiting somewhere, like at a Doctor appointment.
Like most things that affect our health, developing a daily creative practice takes effort and intention. If we value it, we can easily carve out time to make it a habit. It has honestly been a life saver for me. I hope you will give it a try. You might just find something you've been missing…YOU!
