If you’re a creative person, you’re welcome to share something of yours in group. Whether it’s a song, a poem, a quilt, a painting or anything else, being creative is good therapy.
The song I’m performing is about fathers, sons, and sunsets, and we may have some family and friends on hand for support. The song is not autobiographical, but it explores a metaphor that I find cathartic.
We communicate in endless ways, and a creative project can certainly be one of them. Maybe what you create is intended to convey specific emotions or thoughts. Such creativity can also be useful for the times when we wish to express ourselves and we lack the words to do so.
Furthermore, there can be a therapeutic effect from losing yourself in the creative process. Estrangement can result in difficult thoughts and emotions, and if you’re reading this, you probably understand the desire to just be able to stop the thoughts or step outside of your head for a while.
If the emotional toll of estrangement has led you to lose interest in creative pursuits that once enriched your life, I would urge you to work to bring that back.
You may not feel like it, and even getting out the easel or the guitar or the potting soil might feel like an insurmountable obstacle.
But do it please.
As Renee tells me, “Eat the elephant one bite at a time.” If all you can do today is decide you’ll get a canvas ready, okay. Maybe you’ll have enough momentum to start your project. Maybe you won’t. Take the advice that your future self would surely give you and allow that creativity back in.
Your child may have walked out of the inner circle of your life, but that doesn’t mean that they get to take everything else that you love with them.
