Creativity Is How We Stay With Ourselves
Creativity isn’t something we do once we feel better. It’s often what helps us feel better in the first place. I’ve learned this slowly, through years of holding too much—stress, grief, responsibility, unspoken emotion. What finally became clear is this: the body is always processing experience, whether we help it or not. When it has nowhere to put what it’s carrying, it finds other ways out.
Anxiety.
Numbness.
Restlessness.
Fatigue that sleep doesn’t fix.
This isn’t weakness. It’s the nervous system asking for movement.
Emotional Toxins Need Pathways Too
Our bodies are designed to process and release what they don’t need. We digest food. We eliminate waste. Our organs work continuously to detoxify and restore balance. We understand that if physical toxins aren’t released, they poison us. Emotional experience works the same way.
Grief, fear, anger, shock, pressure—these are not problems, but they are substances. If they don’t move, they accumulate. If they accumulate, they begin to affect everything: our mood, our energy, our health, our sense of safety. When emotional toxins have nowhere to go, they don’t disappear. They turn inward. They lodge in the body. Creativity becomes one of the ways we give those experiences a safe pathway out.
A Place to Put What We Carry
Creativity isn’t about self-expression in the way we often think of it. It isn’t about making something impressive or meaningful for others. At its core, it’s about giving the body a place to put what it’s holding.
Pressure.
Grief.
Longing.
Boredom.
The quiet weight of daily life.
When these experiences stay trapped, they stagnate. When they move—through hands, breath, rhythm, color, repetition—they soften. They change shape. They become workable. You don’t have to understand what you’re feeling to let it move. You don’t need the right words. You don’t need to explain anything. The body already knows how to release—if we let it.
Start Small. Start Where You Are.
One of the most helpful things I’ve learned is not to wait until I feel ready. Creativity doesn’t require motivation or inspiration. It responds to presence. Showing up. Beginning small. Doing something simple, regularly, without pressure to produce anything “good.”
Over time, something steadies. Your inner rhythm returns. You begin to recognize your own heartbeat again—steady, alive, familiar. This is not about fixing yourself. It’s about staying connected to yourself.
Creating Art Matters
Creating art isn’t about pretending life hasn’t been hard. It’s about refusing to let difficulty have the final word. Art doesn’t erase pain. It transforms it.
Just as the body becomes healthier when toxins are released, the nervous system settles when emotional experience is allowed to move. What once felt overwhelming becomes integrated. What tried to break you becomes something you can carry differently.
A Simple Creative Release Ritual
This is not about making art. It’s about giving your nervous system a place to exhale.
You’ll need:
Paper (any kind), a pen, pencil, or a few colors
5–10 quiet minutes
Arrive
Sit comfortably. Place one hand on your chest or belly. Take three slow breaths, longer on the exhale than the inhale.Name Without Story
Ask gently: What feels heavy right now?
Don’t explain it. Don’t analyze. Just notice sensations—tight, dull, buzzing, tired, full.Let It Move
Begin making marks on the page. Lines, shapes, colors, repetition. No words unless they want to come. Let your hand move the way your body wants to move.Stay With It
Continue for a few minutes. If you feel the urge to stop, slow down instead. This is the release.Close the Ritual
Place your hand on the page. Take one breath. Whisper or think:
This moved. I don’t have to carry it alone.
That’s it. No interpretation. No fixing. No outcome required.
A Gentle Invitation
If you’re feeling tired, overwhelmed, or disconnected, if words feel heavy or unavailable, consider giving yourself a different kind of space. One that doesn’t ask you to understand or explain, only to show up. Creativity can be that space. Not to perform. Not to produce. But to release. To regulate. To remember yourself. Start with what’s possible today. Small. Simple. Honest. Sometimes, that is enough to remind the body that it knows how to heal.
From my soul journey to yours,
Maria
