The Journey Begins : Unleashing the Hidden Creative


Ever since I could remember, I have loved to create and express myself through art and crafts. Whether it was paint, clay or poetry (there were some seriously dubious attempts to master my teenage angst) I was never happier than when I was lost in my creation, pouring something of myself out into the world.

There is a photo of me aged about three; tongue out, in excited concentration, my hair a bundle of wild curls as I scribble furiously across a huge sheet of paper. The photo is slightly out of focus, presumably because my Mum couldn't catch the speed at which I through myself into my art with her 1970's camera (no digital back then).  Something about this photo makes me smile. My heart feels warm as I look at this little girl so obviously caught up in the joy of her own expression. 

 There is no pressure here to be good at art or to be tidy and not make a mess. Instead this is a photograph of total freedom. 

 Free to release the artist within and show how it feels to be her in that particular moment. Sadly I cannot remember how it felt to be her then. Forty years on, my memory cannot depict the one particular emotion or experience that led me to be drawing with such abandon that day or why I felt the need to fill the page with black crayon (my ever present therapist self wonders about the significance of this) rather than draw a rainbow.  Actually, it doesn't really matter because for me this picture symbolises something that has always been inside me; an innate drive or passion, a desire to create, which for years I have pushed away, pushed down and not believed.

My inner child has always been a creator.
She is braver than me because she has no doubt.
She is not afraid to make a mess, she is not afraid to be judged and she is certainly not afraid to use a big black crayon if that is what is needed for her creation.

What happened to her? Where did she go? 

 I've been  thinking more and more about the reasons she has been prevented from being who she needs to be and you know what, she has been hidden for far too long. It is time to be brave and it is time for her to come out to play. Although my sensible adult self is slightly fearful of what she might encourage me to do I am shouting deep within myself ...

 Unleash the creativity little one - you are now free!
(Brace yourselves - who knows what will happen now!!)

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