Patsey's Dolls: Why We Must Create
Why we must create.
The one scene that I keep going back to again and again from 12 Years a Slave is where we see Patsey crafting her corn husk dolls.
This scene struck me because it bores down to the essence of who we are as women, creators.
Our need to create, to connect, and to release our spirit is greater than any injustice, pain, or sorrow we have or will ever endure.
We create to be free.
Our creations are what frees us. When discussing Patsey and the corn husk dolls, Lupita Nyong’o stated that, "In playing her, I learned that you don't have to live a day free to know what freedom is." (Interview, 11/20/2013)
For that period of time, Patsey was free and present in that freedom. In those moments she was not enslaved, nor someone’s mule or sexual satisfaction.
I imagine she also created freedom for others by giving the dolls to the girls on the plantation, teaching others to make the dolls, or inspiring them to create something of their own.
We must create our art for the sake of freedom.
We create to save ourselves.
Our creations are what save us.
They save us from insanity and nothingness.
They nourish us and keep us whole.
They have kept us alive and it is what allows us thrive against all odds.
To create is to be courageous. To fly in the face of doubt.
To dare to be the greatest thing you can be, yourself.
We create to feel.
When we are creating, a light opens up inside and makes our pearly, peachy, cafe con leche, golden, cacao and obsidian skins radiate.
The rhythm in our hips and steps becomes hypnotic.
Our voices drift like a sweet summer breeze and boom like the night thunder.
Divine gifts are produced from our hearts, minds, tongues, hands and wombs.
Dreams become songs and paintings.
Feelings grow into flowerbeds and quilts.
These creations flow out like blood, sweat and tears, freely, but not without sacrifice.
We are artists.
We are artists in every sense of the word.
Whether we are braiding hair, birthing babies, organizing, growing a garden, painting our bodies, resisting, or “making a dollar outta 15 cents”, we manage to infuse our souls.
Each of us has our own corn husk doll waiting to be birthed from the part of us that cannot be adulterated.
We say to the world, “because I have created this, you cannot deny my existence.” Though, they will try.
It’s reminder that we are (and were) here and not to forget us.
Creating is the art of being.
This is why we must create.
Why do you create?
Creative Self-Care: An Overview
What is creative self-care?
Creative self-care is a term growing in popularity among self-improvement circles and is a type of self-care.
Self care is doing things that you keep you happy and healthy.
Creative self-care takes that one step further by encouraging artistic and imaginative expression as a way to practice self-care.
Creative self-care hits the reset button on your mind, body and soul and facilitates self-expression at the deepest levels.
Creative self-care is for everybody. We all need to restore ourselves living in this chaotic world.
With the increasing presence of technology in our lives, more demand is placed on our attention in addition to our families, partners, career and other obligations.
As a nation, we are overworked, overstressed and the rate of disease proves that we are not properly taking care of ourselves.
The creative component is special because it calls on a part of us that we may have neglected since we were younger.
We all have creativity within us. It is how we survived as a species for tens of thousands of years. Evolution, natural instinct, intuition and creativity are all synonyms to me.
What are the main components of creative self-care?
The main areas of creative self-care that I promote are meditation, movement, creation, intuition, and play. Every person needs a prescription for more of these.
Meditation
Everyone should be meditating. Seriously.
Even if you are the most fidgety person in the world you should meditate because the benefits are a no-brainer.
When you think of meditation you probably imagine someone sitting crossed-legged a.k.a. lotus position and chanting “om”.
That is the commonly accepted image of meditation, but that is by no means required.
You can sit in a chair, sit with your legs straight out in front of you, or lay down. You can chant out loud or in your head. You can repeat a mantra or count numbers. You can also just focus on your own breath.
Prepare for your mind to be blown in a second. Ready?
You don’t even have to do any of the above.
You can do writing meditations, listen to music that is soothing to you, or drink a cup of tea.
All meditation requires is that you focus your mind on the moment at the bare minimum.
This is why I promote creative self-care because while you are painting or journaling, your mind is focused on that task. You’re essentially meditating and creating at the same time.
Movement
Your mind is integrated with your body and they influence each other.
You can use your mind to motivate your body to do something. Moving your body can also change your mental state.
Furthermore, movement helps you maintain and improve your physical health. Yoga is my favorite source of movement.
I like yoga and it's my preferred form of exercise. Anyone can do yoga. Yoga doesn’t require you to be flexible, thin, or whatever you may think doing yoga looks like. Yoga and meditation are two peas in a creative self-care pod.
Like meditation, yoga asks you to focus your mind with the added element of your body. It’s mindful movement and any person can improve their inner state with it.
While I practice and encourage yoga, the simplest form of exercise is walking. According to a Stanford study, taking a walk can increase creative thinking by up to 60%.
Also, you can achieve the same mental boost from walking outside or walking on a treadmill. You can walk however you like as long as you do it for at least 5 minutes.
Regardless of how you choose to move, just do it. It's great for you mental and physical health.
Creation
A key element of creative self-care is the creativity part. The fruits of your self-care reveal your inner self.
This is where you can explore your feelings, fantasies, goals and dreams and produce something tangible that represents your world.
The physical creations include vision boards, paintings, doodles, poems or journal entries.
If you’re a left-brainer, you can also express your creativity through mind maps and other organizational visuals.
Writing is an easy way to start expressing yourself. I think it’s also the most natural form of expression for us because words are such an integral part of human communication.
Journaling is my favorite creative self-care activity. I do it almost daily for my personal life and business. Journaling about your experiences can help you heal from emotional and physical traumas more quickly.
Free writing helps you create and find solutions, bring forth latent ideas, remove brain clutter and tap into your intuition.
Play
This may be the best part of creative self-care. You will need to call on your inner child and let her run wild. Climb trees, jump rope, build a fort, or play hide-and-go-seek.
Make a list of all the fun things you used to do as a kid and do them. Adult games are fun too.
Playing releases your mind from the stresses of adult life, helps you be more imaginative, and look at things from a different perspective.
Intuition
Accessing your inner knowing and being aligned is the underlying point of all this. It’s how we find our purpose which is why we’re here on this earth.
Intuition is called gut feeling, instinct, magic, signs from the universe and God's voice. Intuition is all of those things.
Your intuition is the spiritual being that resides in your physical body and guides you on your journey. Whatever you call it, we’ve all been in situations where we just knew something was wrong or we were confident that a choice was right, but could not explain it in logical terms.
Every experience that you go through happens for a reason and is teaching you a lesson on your journey. All you have to do is accept responsibility and examine your experience to find the truth.
When and where can creative self-care be practiced?
Creative self-care can be practiced on a daily basis, but if you can’t practice daily at least find time for weekly “me time”.
Ideally, creative self-care is practiced whenever and wherever you are available.
To make creative self-care a daily or weekly routine you have to examine your schedule to see where you can find the time.
Start with at least 5 minutes and work your way up from there. Practice when you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed at night.
It also doesn’t have to be a delegated time you’ve set aside. Doodle and journal during the inevitable work meetings you find yourself in. You may just come up with a solution to the problem your team has been working on.
Take your 15 minute break and do 5 minutes of journaling, 5 minutes of yoga, and 5 minutes of meditation.
Don’t overlook those times throughout your day where you have downtime. Turn your laptop, phone and tablet off or put them to sleep while you practice.
I also recommend practicing nature. The beauty of nature is enough to inspire anybody. A park, the beach, a small clearing in the woods, your garden, or the porch of your home.
Within your home, there may be a room you’ve reserved for “me time”, or even a corner in your bedroom or living room will work.
Wherever you can find the time and space, do your best to focus your attention and energy on your creative self-care practice.
Whether you engage in creative self-care or regular self-care, the important thing is that you make time for you.
Sources and Further Research
- http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/workorg/risks.html
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341916/
- Meditation Infographic: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/14/meditation-mind-body-spirit_n_5291361.html
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/tracking-wonder/201211/the-science-creative-insight-yoga
- Yoga Infographic: http://groundingyoga.com/2013/04/27/can-yoga-make-us-more-confident-and-creative/
- http://apt.rcpsych.org/content/11/5/338.full
What are you favorite creative self-care activities?
6 Steps for Self-Care
This really hits close to home for me because lately I have been feeling overwhelmed.
Managing this site, my job, my budget, taking an online course, and trying to keep up with my friends is draining to say the least.
I hadn't been sleeping well and even when I was getting a full night's rest I still woke up feeling out of sorts.
I had a choice to make. I could keep chugging along and ignoring what my body and spirit were telling me or I could take responsibility for changing how I felt.
Here are 6 steps for improving your self-care when things get tough.
1. Acknowledge how you feel.
In the past, I viewed admitting to feeling less than stellar as a sign of weakness. I should be cool, calm, and collected all the time right?
Wrong. We all have good days and bad days, but to improve the bad days you have to acknowledge them. Ignoring the reality will only make the situation worse.
Recognize what doesn't feel right so you are aware of what you need to work on.
2. Decide how you want to feel.
After I admitted that I didn't feel good, I had to consider how I wanted to feel.
You can't skip this. Just saying I don't want to feel like shit anymore and not knowing what it is you want to feel is going to get you nowhere fast.
I knew that I wanted to feel calm, balanced, and well-rested. Being in these states would prepare me to do everything on my to-do list with ease and creativity instead of anxiety.
3. Choose what you're going to do to change how you feel.
Now is the time you get to pick which practices will work best to shift your mood. I chose reading, journaling, and meditation to help me.
After I finish reading or writing in my journal, I meditate for at least 10 minutes before going to bed.
When I started doing this, I immediately noticed a difference in my sleep and I woke up feeling more refreshed. I also experienced less stress when approaching the tasks of the day.
4. Set aside time to practice your self-care.
Figure out what part of the day is least taxing on your time.
If you're a morning person, set aside some time before starting work.
Me, I'm not a morning person, so I do my routine before bed, starting around 9 pm. I put away the gadgets (laptop, e-reader and cell) and read for a half hour and then meditate.
5. Repeat.
If you stop making self-care a priority, you will fall back into the cycle of those unwanted feelings.
No one is expecting you to be perfect, but it would be great if self-care became a part of your daily routine.
In my life, it's more important for me to focus on my self-care during the week when I'm busier, but even on the weekends I at least try to do deep breathing exercises before going to bed.
6. If you can only do one thing a day, say this and mean it.
" I am enough and I love myself."
When we start feeling drained, overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed out it's because what we think should be happening is not matching our reality.
Maybe we have set unrealistic expectations for ourselves or we are comparing our lives to others and saying, "why not me".
I'm guilty. I don't want to work at my day job or have to budget down to the last cent like a CPA.
I want my business to take off and support me, but the reality is I'm not there yet. The challenge is accepting that where I am in this moment is exactly where I need to be.
I keep telling myself everyday, "I am enough and I love myself." and each day I feel a little lighter.
There will still be some bad says, but the good ones will outnumber them and I will remember I am right where I need to be and you are too.
Use these steps to realign your mind, body and spirit. Also learn about creative self-care.