The Creative Instinct

This is a very personal posting.

It’s ironic that only a few weeks after celebrating The Creative Instinct first birthday – and looking forward to the continued growth and development over the next year – I’ve been really struggling to keep on blogging.

If you’re a regular reader you may have noticed a drop in posting frequency over these last few weeks. This is because my wife Lynda’s ongoing health issues gifted her a nasty flare-up mid-February which saw her in hospital for a while. She’s now been back home for over a month and is still crazily weak and still in way too much pain.

Even before February Lynda’s creative artwork had petered out because of the demands and discomforts her health was putting on her. Since her flare-up there’ve been a lot of very unsettling mental readjustments for the both of us. And for myself the pressures of looking after Lynda, running the home and keeping my coaching business going has taken all my energy and attention.

Therapeutic Creativity

There’s no doubt that focussing on your creativity can be hugely beneficial during certain periods of illness. The power of being absorbed by something other than your health, and the rewards of achievement have certainly helped Lynda through difficult times.

One friend and colleague of mine set herself some tough creative goals at a time when she was struggling to manage a chronic illness. She developed her style and produced more work of a higher standard than she’d ever managed before. The satisfaction she gained during that difficult time was priceless.

Sad to say that her symptoms worsened to the point where even she couldn’t continue. Three years on and she’s still battling, but her creativity has been battered and, for now at least, subdued. [Good new update! See the link at the end of this post]

This is what’s happening to Lynda just now. Her health is never better than fragile but her spirit is perhaps best described as defiant. So when she’s well enough she makes her art and when she’s not she spends a fair amount of her time thinking about her art.

But periods like this current one can last months and are a different matter entirely. A couple of days ago Lynda confided in me that at the moment she feels no attraction or desire towards exercising her usual creativity.

Who Am I?

Such a change in focus brings up unsettling questions for any person in this situation, one of which is who am I? When your whole self image is wrapped around a core of being creative, and that creativity is absent, this becomes a big question – not least because you probably have no idea when, or if, your creative core will flicker back into life. I guess that when you’re very ill this is the least of your concerns. But as you get a little better the loss of the creative urge becomes more apparent.

From Lynda’s previous experiences of these periods we expect that her creativity will reassert itself as her health problems ease. But there’s always doubt.

My Own Creativity

As the partner of someone who is ill the pattern has been slightly different. Certainly there were a few weeks where my creative instinct was blasted out of the water – from the obvious concern of seeing your loved one in serious distress (and the emotional turmoil and uncertainty that is part of that), and from the sheer time pressures of added activity in such unwelcome situations.

But then as the dust began to settle a little I still wasn’t able to find the time or mental space for my own creativity. Now, six weeks or so on from Lynda’s sudden flare-up my head is just starting to clear and only now do I feel ready to get motoring with things again.

Gradually the emotional turmoil and mental repositioning we’ve had to put in place have become more manageable. And as the pressures have eased a little, I’ve been able to regain some control of my own time and routines. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to blogging on a more regular basis and continue the development of The Creative Instinct in terms of new resources, products and site development.’

And hopefully Lynda’s health will gradually improve enough for her to rediscover her own creative drive.’

Don’t Force It

Patience really is a virtue in these situations. Trying to force things along – deciding, for instance, that you should be feeling creative when it’s simply not there right now – well, that’s a recipe for frustration and unhappiness.

Make The Most Of It

I’ll leave you, I think, with this final thought. Please do make the most of your creative instincts now. Don’t put things off. Find a way of doing more of what you really want to do. And if you’ve been stopped in your tracks through whatever circumstances then don’t force things before you are ready. But if you feel your creativity beginning to stir, then do take a little time to reassess the barriers and see if you can’t knock a few of them down.

Wishing you health, peace and creativity – Andrew

***

See also the follow-up post:
Creativity and Illness – Victoria’s Good News Story
***
Lynda started her own blog a few weeks back. You can read it here. It’s worth starting from the first posting.