PERFECTIONISM KILLS CREATIVITY

Perfectionism Kills Creativity

I occasionally experience difficulty fully expressing my emotions. I have even had times in the past where people perceived me as being emotionally detached. Although I have been perceived as unemotional, I actually experience extreme intense visceral emotions. I really do feel things very deeply. I may have been perceived this way because I do not get carried away by my emotions. I used to have a hard time expressing these deep internal emotions, because I thought that others might not understand or be able to relate. I was afraid of being judged or ridiculed. I didn’t want to burden others. These thoughts led to me blocking my creativity. When you are afraid of expressing yourself, it can affect creativity in your work, your hobbies, and your relationships.

I began clearing these blocks several months ago when I started working with Donna. She is a lovely lady and Dream Teacher that you may remember from my previous blogs. She uses shamanic-based techniques to bring knowledge from dreams through to the waking mind. Depending on the person, the experience can be very spiritual, creative, or problem solving.

I had this dream where I was walking with a friend through a field of flowers, and we came upon this beautiful glowing tree that opened up into another dimension. The scene from my dream was ethereal, enchanting, mystical, and whimsical. I remember arising from my slumber with a surge of energy and immediately wanting to grab a paint brush to get started. But instead, I hesitated and started listing off all of these excuses in my mind and reasons why I couldn’t. Then the thoughts rushed in. I haven’t painted since adolescence. I am not a professional. What if it’s not perfect?

I remember my first time meeting up with Donna and sharing with her my magical dream. She handed me crayons and encouraged me to recreate that heavenly scene in my mind. I froze. Then I shared with her my fears and hesitation. I even voiced my concern of it not being perfect. She continued encouraging me, which is what I desperately needed at the time. Her gentle nudge and reassurance were comforting. The fourth step of The Lightning Dream Work Process is honoring the experience. Dreams are experiences which require active acknowledgement. There may be guidance in this experience that the dreamer can accept by acting on it in their waking life (the physical). Acting on a dream enriches one’s waking life by confirming the connection to the deeper world. There are several different ways that one can honor their dream. The dreamer may act out the dream, create a skit, a movie, an animation, draw a picture, illustration, or painting, create a collage, journal it, write a song, a poem, or create a fashion look and dedicate your aesthetic to your dream.  It’s really personal to the individual and what feels right for them.

I honored one of my dreams by coloring a picture quickly using crayons. I honored another dream by creating an elaborate collage. The collage I created was filled with symbolism and subliminal messages which related back to the dream. I really enjoyed this process of creating artwork to celebrate these dreams I had experienced. I was able to fully express myself and emotions through this process. Creative expression has made me feel alive and excited, it has reignited my passion towards life!

What I learned through this process is that PERFECTIONISM KILLS CREATIVITY. I believe perfectionism is a learned behavior. I vividly remember freely expressing myself as a child. My life was rich with imagination. I used to play games and create artwork all the time. My friends and I even pretended to be in a band and covered a song for the talent show. My point is, at that age I didn’t care about being judged, my image, or how I was being perceived. I was just being my authentic self. I WAS FREE IN MY EXPRESSION OF SELF. I took chances and was excited to experience new things. Perfectionism and questioning whether I was good enough was far from my head space and rightfully so.

I am convinced that our society can learn a lot from children. I challenge you this week to honor your own inner child. Please take the time to play, to express yourself creatively, and bring in that lighthearted energy that you enjoyed as a child. Release any feelings of perfectionism, or feelings of not being good enough. Let go of caring what others think of you or how they are perceiving you. Do not worry about having the perfect outlet for your artwork. Always remember that you are enough and fully embrace yourself. God gives people gifts for a reason. Please do not let your gifts go to waste. The time is now to share your gifts with this world! This world needs your gifts! I challenge you to dive deep into your subconscious mind and get in touch with your creative side. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Who knows, maybe your happy accident will lead to a new invention. Maybe what you consider a mistake or fashion faux pas will be the next latest trend. When you clear that block and allow yourself to play, you are able to fully express yourself. This is beneficial because one, you are letting your emotions out in a healthy manner, two, science has proven that 45 minutes of art creation lowers stress related cortisol levels, and three, by allowing yourself to play you allow yourself to practice and improve your craft.