There are two things I preach on this blog quite often. The first is that all people are creative. Their creativity might not manifest in a traditionally accepted way as 'art,' but that doesn't mean they're not creative. The second is that creativity is the reason we survive. I believe that now. I will believe that til my dying breath.
I read a good example of it yesterday. In one of my knitting groups, a woman posted some lace she'd been working on. She talked about how rough her life was at the moment. She was just about to turn 30, had a lot of financial difficulties, and really only had the space of her bed to call her own. She said that she couldn't control much, but she could control two sticks and some yarn, and with that she could make beautiful things.
Creativity is such a profound form of therapy. For one thing, it allows you to narrow your focus to your project, which helps to quiet all the chaos going on around you. For another thing, it allows you to stay IN the moment, one with your activity. When you're in the moment, you're not worried about the future or regretting past decisions.
And this is by far the most useful way to cope. You can't rely on other people to calm you down or distract you. Even if they can for a while, you're going to end up draining them to the point they want nothing to do with you. But a project can be some of the best therapy around.
Sometimes the best way to order our minds is to find order in something else. If you can't knit or draw or write or whatever, fix something that is broken. Clean something that needs to be cleaned. Organize an area of your house. You will feel more productive and spend some time in the moment. If you start to feel overwhelmed, remember that just to small sticks can make all the difference in the world.
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