Healing Creatively (Part 2 of 2)

(This post comes from John Joseph*.)

Recovery can often be sidetracked by self-pity. I know this because I’ve spent an ungodly amount of time feeling sorry for myself. If only I had that time back to pursue my healing, how much better I would be! Of course, that time is spent now and I only have today to work on my issues. I must use today as wisely as I can. That’s where creativity comes in.

Creativity is an innate quality of the human soul. We can choose to develop it or ignore it, but those of us who deal with the remnants of childhood sexual trauma have a greater need to be creative about life and how we live it. In my previous post I pointed out that creativity isn’t always about art, but more often about artfulness.

How can we heal creatively? How can we choose to use every resource available to us creatively to be better people, despite a rough start?

The first place to start is by taking a creative inventory. Look around you now. What’s at hand? What books have you read to find healing? What music causes your soul to soar again? What prayers or friends or groups seem to never fail to reconnect you with your humanity, your essence, your soul? As you identify these paths to healing, use them well. Use them creatively to find yourself again.

*John Joseph is a pseudonym of a pastor. He's a regular contributor to this blog.

Healing Creatively (Part 1 of 2)

(This post comes from John Joseph*.)

Matthew Fox wrote, “Creativity may be the nearest one-word definition we possess for the essence of our humanity, for the true meaning of soul” (Tarcher/Penguin, 2004, italics mine). To heal from abuse of any type is to reconnect, to re-engage with the true essence of ourselves as human beings, to become the people we really are despite what happened to us.

My own recovery has taken many twists and turns, some up and some down, but the recurring pattern is always that creativity of any kind heals me. By creativity I don’t mean writing a poem, a song, or choreographing a dance routine, though each of those are a lot of fun to me. Creativity is a mindset, a way of thinking that alters our consciousness and thus our experience of life. Therapists help their patients begin to think creatively about their lives to facilitate healing.

Most people react to this by saying, “I’m not creative. I’m an accountant." But creativity is innate to the human species and your own creativity is waiting to be tapped. The simplest way I know to do this is to go for a walk. A friend says, “Angels talk to those who walk,” and I think there’s some truth to it, at least for me. Often my first step in reconnecting with my soul is to get up from the television and the computer and just go for a quick walk. Before I know it, the endorphins have kicked in and I’m feeling better.

(*John Joseph is a pseudonym of a pastor. He's a regular contributor to this blog.)