Making Art is Therapeutic

This is a short one today. I am in the midst of getting ready for a family wedding, but I am trying to stick with writing on this blog at least Monday through Friday. I wanted to talk about how my art helps me with anxiety, stress, and just overall bad feelings.

As a kid I didn’t necessarily put this together. I had a lot of feelings that I didn’t know how to process or communicate (I didn’t really learn how to do this until I was an adult). Drawing was an easy way for me to just lose myself and think only about what was going on the paper. When I am drawing or painting with music on I can easily enter the flow state (not always but most of the time). When I was trying to build a business with my art I lost a little bit of the therapeutic nature of making something for the sake of making it because I was too focused on how others would receive it. I am learning how to get back to that child-like mindset of creating without caring about the result (why is that so hard as an adult?!)

Here is what I’m learning so far:

Making art and getting the benefits of reduced stress comes most effectively when I am not worried about the outcome of the painting or drawing. Worrying about how it looks or how it will turn out is counter productive to eliminating stress through creating.
The act of creating is a form of worship to God. Jesus was a carpenter and worked with his hands to make something that would benefit others. God himself was a Creator and made us in His image including the ability to create our own works. These creative acts are a reflection of Him and if they are made in honor of Him and to the benefit of others, it is a good work.
Creating is better than consuming. I have wasted so much time on my phone and computer googling and YouTubing that I am a little ashamed to even share the numbers. Some of it was learning which is good, but I would say 80% of my time was wasted on these platforms. The result is a feeling of guilt, shame, and a whole flood of anxious and angry thoughts. The opposite effect happens when I am creating. In our digital world some people consider content as a form of creation, and it is, but for me at least, physically picking up a paint brush and slapping it on a canvas has a far richer feeling and satisfaction that I just can’t get digitally.
In the end it doesn’t matter what we create. It could be a drawing, painting, dinner, woodworking, house projects, gardening, or anything else that has a creation component. These acts can be so life giving in ways that we just don’t realize.

Now go and make something and share this with someone who needs to hear it!

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