Embracing Your Creative Self
“The thing that is missing from your life is you” Guy Finley
Sometimes we spend a lot of time looking for things. Things to make our lives better, things to make us feel better, look better, be better. We seek change to happen to us. We seek change or transformation as if it’s a commodity we can purchase. We get sucked into the notion that there is always something better out there that we need to be, better as if what we have or what we are is not enough.
This searching for something more only serves to reinforce any feelings of insecurity or not being enough.
Do you see where this is going? The striving to be or have something more or better ends up making us feel less than we are. It preys on our insecurities and makes us seek outside of ourselves even more.
But what if we began to believe that all we are is enough? What if we accepted ourselves as we are and basked in this revelation. Even if we are not perfect. Even if doesn’t meet our expectations?
I’m not saying that things should just stay as they are, but the idea that we need to change to improve is misleading. When we begin to accept ourselves for who we are we open the door to our full potential, not trying to change who we are but rather expanding the notion of our Selves outside of the preconceived restricted notions we may hold about who we are becoming. The way I see it is that we are constantly growing and evolving.
This opening to acceptance is essential. Rather than looking at self as something broken in need of fixing we may look at self with compassion. And when we have compassion for self we can connect better with self. When we are more connected with self we are more of who we really are – the possibilities that exist inside flourish in that kind of attitude and environment.
What kind of environment are you fostering for your self to grow in?
Here are some tips that I have found helpful for opening to my inner possibilities:
- Start the day with a clean slate: I spend 10 minutes in the morning (most) sitting in silence just noticing my thoughts and going back to my breath.
- Do something you enjoy each day, whether it is 5 minutes of dance, doodling, art journaling, playing with your kids, or yoga. Just give your self permission to do it, expanding the time as it becomes more comfortable for you to gift this to yourself.
- Notice what is, there is beauty everywhere, recognize it within yourself and name a strength of yours.
- Find something to celebrate about your day: the way you handled that conflict well, that the sun was shinning, the infectious laugh of a child you crossed paths with, the smile of a stranger, whatever it is notice it and celebrate it.
- Use affirmations to remind yourself of your worth.