Recently I finished teaching a group of art therapy students at an training institute here in Toronto.  In the last class we were focused on self-care and brainstorming about things we could do on a daily basis to stay grounded.  We talked about meditation, treating ourselves to fun stuff, down time, yoga, and of course making art.   When I asked if with their busy schedules of course work, jobs, internship, and family time they felt they would still have time for art the answer was an unanimous “no”.

The truth is there are many reasons we don’t take the time to do art, and time is one of the false excuses we give.  Sure we all get busy, feel overwhelmed, feel like there is not enough time, but those are the exact reasons we need to do art, to help us ground, stay in the present, out of our heads and experiencing the beauty of now.  Art allows us to be. The trick is accepting that art is an important part of our lives, whether as an expression of us, a symbol of hope, a playful experiment.

When we don’t accept this then of course we get caught in the trap of not doing art because we are too busy or stressed. This in turn keeps us in the cycle of non-creating.  The less we create, the more stressed we feel and the less time we appear to have.  When we shift this and do art, even in tiny intervals, stress decreases. Our minds realize that creating is an important part of daily life and vitality.  Our bodies feel it in the essential down time that making art allows for.  We can just BE while creating.

Daily practice is key, fitting art in as something that we ordinarily do like eating.  Art feeds the souls, that’s the only difference. We receive emotional nourishment by allowing ourselves to express and transform feelings and thoughts into images, abstract or not.

Art as a daily practice is an important part of self care in my humble opinion.  Lately I have been struggling with fitting it in.  Work has been busy between clients, setting up workshops and e-courses and marking term papers.  What I find however is that I cannot afford to let my art slip away from me especially during these times of stress for art grounds me and that is what I need the most when things are busy.

Sometimes it can be as simple as taking a photograph or a quick doodle. The product doesn’t matter so much as the act or creating. Call it what you will, distraction, expression, mindfulness, entertainment. Art can relieve us, if we let it.