The Healing Power of Creative Expression

Explore how engaging in creative activities like writing, art, or music can aid in personal healing and self-discovery

May 17, 2025

Not a complete or finished project I am working on. Saṃsāra #2 is still in process :)

It’s been a little over three weeks and I have unpaused my Thrive Substack newsletter(s) after some much needed “rest” in the amount of unnecessary online time and energy consuming distractions I led myself into. Now to this post…

The Scary Doodle

What do you see in the partial and incomplete painting above? This is the kind of art that I’ve been making since I was old enough to pick up a pencil. As a child, I turned to drawing as a way to comfort myself, escaping into my own little world of creative energy. I only had to focus on one thing: either the next line or the next color.

However, with time, the energy flowing through me grew stronger and became overwhelming. I didn’t understand how these drawings (and eventually paintings) just popped out of me. I say that because I literally just sit down, and then the art pours out with its own ideas and direction. I might have a color I want to start with, but I’m just the medium. Once the process begins, these paintings literally create themselves and never look like what I might have thought they would look like when I started.

Of course, when I was deeply conservative, I believed that if I didn’t understand it, it could be evil. This scared me, and I stopped doodling, drawing, and painting altogether for at least a decade.

Embracing The Gift Of Creative Energy

After coming out, I chose to trust this process. Notice the word “chose.” I didn’t fully want to embrace that it’s ok to not understand where the inspiration comes from. Plus, the inspiration is in and flowing through me. Why would I want to stifle that?

I literally feel energy flowing when I lose track of time while painting. Is it supernatural? Spiritual? Just another human-driven impulse?

Well, yeah. I am all those things so, of course, it would be all of that and more. And I will let you ponder the supernatural part 🙂.

Today, I no longer fear my creative process and take delight in weird words like Saṃsāra just pop into my head randomly. I didn’t even know that was a word until last weekend.

I love it when people interpret my paintings and let me tell you, they see all kinds of things. Inevitably someone will ask me what the correct interpretation is and I just tell them, “Yours. Your interpretation is correct. And when other people say something different, theirs is correct too. Let the painting tell you what it wants you to see and use it for meditation/prayer on that topic or theme.”

I love hearing their stories of how the art affected them and what they “See” on the canvas.

Get On the Diving Board…

What is your creative outlet? Writing? Landscaping/Gardening? Dancing? Music? or something of the other myriad of creative options out in the Universe?

Does it scare you sometimes? All the time? Not at all?

I have found a way to paint that makes my process faster so over the past few weeks I have cranked out a lot of art. They have reminded me of the joy of my version of “energy work” and that I have nothing at all to fear in the flow.

If you are like me, in whatever way(s) you are creative, I will ask the Universe to help you not fear the flow either.

Dive in!