Creative Expression

I often wonder why we judge ourselves so harshly, we are our own worst critics. Judgment of ourselves lessens our ability to be freely creative, by that I mean we think everything we do should be exact and perfect. To be truly creative we have to learn to let go.

Let go of judgments and just allow our creativity to flow, freely and expressively. When we look at things we tend to see that which is wrong and not perfect. We should learn to look at things for what they are, true self expressions of our inner being. Let's say you draw a picture, instead of looking at the areas that you think are wrong, look at the picture as a beginning of your creative expressions.

Everything begins somewhere from scratch with an inner thought. You don't just sit down to draw, start a business or anything else without knowing or having a basic idea of what you want to do, or the desire to create something. You still had or have a desire to create and by letting yourself be free of judgmental thoughts, you can then just let the ideas flow, they will as long as you don't stop them by viewing them as wrong or stupid.

Many painters, artist and musical talents began somewhere, their masterpieces if you will, became such because they were able to just view or hear what they expressed. Whatever your creative talent is- it belongs to you and only you. There isn't anyone who can duplicate what you did, even if you draw a picture and someone else draws the same picture they may look similar, each will still have it's own characteristics. We each put into whatever we do a piece of ourselves which nobody can duplicate.

As children we see what we do as an accomplishment no matter how small it is. I've watched my grandchildren and when they would draw a circle they were so excited. See they see that drawing as something that is wonderful, they don't instantly look for the wrong in it. They are very proud of their inner expression. They are as unique as their drawing.

This is where we need to see ourselves as individuals with different likes, dislikes, ideas and thoughts. Fear drives self judgment and I believe it is because we are so afraid that we aren't going to please someone else.

Successful people start with an inner idea or thought, express it on paper the way they see it in their head or mind. Only they can make it work by releasing all negative thoughts and only focusing on the positive outcome. If they told themselves that is was never going to work, well we wouldn't have a Disney World would we. We have to believe!!

As a creative painter and artist I have learned that to truly see the beauty in what I paint, draw or sketch I have to let go. I have to stand back and see it as true self expression of my inner thought that only I can have. Only I can see the idea, express the thought and bring it to be. You have to follow the vision you see and feel inside, then learn to step back and see it for the beauty that it is - a true expression of self. That is not to say that I may not work on a drawing for awhile, I do. I tweak it or change it until I get it to what I see in my minds eye. Was the first initial sketch wrong - NO - it was the beginning of the vision I saw in the finished form, BUT it had to start somewhere.

When you learn to draw a person you are taught to draw in rough sketch. You would just draw the outlines of the face which sometimes looks like an awkward uneven box. You then learn to fill in using the rough lines as a guide. You have to start somewhere, but if all you do is judge even the simplest of things you will not be able to see your vision come to be.

Meditation can help in so many ways it helps one to learn to just view and not dwell on negative thoughts. If you learn to meditate daily you will learn to let the thoughts pass and not hang on to them. No matter what your passion is for in life you MUST eliminate the negativity to move forward. You must learn to creatively critique and not just condemn or criticize.

I frequently suggest to people who ask what to do to write in a journal. Many tell me they can't write or that what they write does not make sense. It isn't supposed to make sense, you are supposed to write in a journal "Your Thoughts" and sometimes our thoughts come in random patterns and don't make sense. What I can suggest is for you to write in your journal, look at it the next day, read what it says but DON'T dwell on or judge what is written, and don't correct how it written. Learn to just accept it as thought and let it go. With practice you will be able to apply this technique to everything you do.

Blessings