Turning Life into Art
By Amy Williams
Are you depressed, giving up smoking or just frustrated about some things going on in your life? Well, what are you doing about it? When something is going wrong in my life, I like to talk about it. I’ve often said that’s why I have so many friends… I vent and vent and vent. It would take a small army to listen to me and not get perturbed. And I might just wear them out anyway. Hey, I work as a therapist so I know the benefits of talking things through… but geez I take it too far sometimes.
As I’ve matured both as an artist and a person, I’ve learned that creating art can be a therapeutic way to work out problems… without actually speaking a word to anyone.
In Robert Glenn’s online creativity newsletter, a recent article talks about a reader who has given up smoking and the related effects it’s having on her. The loss of this addiction, whether it be smoking or drinking or whatever can make it hard to get back to your creative work according to Glenn. He suggests that people are often depressed before they smoke and they are subseqently depressed after they stop. His idea? Replacement units. Here’s what he says:
“Replacement units can be tailor made to the previous addiction. A cigarette, for example, burns down in about eight minutes. The idea is to make eight minute poems, paintings or whatever. These units can be repeated with the same frequency as the previous addiction. “
In the same way, I’ve learned from my co-blogger, Charly Jupiter Hamilton, that if I am feeling discouraged or upset I can paint or draw that into a story or I can write a poem. Now, I fondly look back on poems that were remembrances of past problems. And I’m glad I didn’t put any more negativity out there in the world by venting and complaining. The problem was positively stored in my sketchbook or notebook for only me to see. Often at that later date, I see that what seemed so monumental at the time was just part of my story. Will my journals be in a museum with my work some future day when I am gone? You never know!
For more information on the Glenn’s inspiring newsletter for creative folk, contact rgenn@saraphina.com or go here.: http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/giftscribe.php
