Creativity: the Antidote to Negativity
Creative ways: a five minute breather to tune out from the stress and busyness, tune in to peace, stillness and the presence of God. Take a moment, tune out, tune in.
I’ve found that giving time to creativity can very often disrupt a negative pattern of thinking. When my thoughts are spiralling down, when circumstances seem to encourage a flat dullness, or a wave of depression, to choose to take on a creative task, whatever that may be, can slowly turn my thinking in a different direction, disrupting the pattern that wants to get a foothold.
It’s as if the creative drive itself has a real influence on my spirit. Thinking it through I wonder if it could be a couple of things...
Whatever form the creative task takes, writing, painting, baking, gardening, exercise...it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I am choosing to make something new, the word itself tells a story... it’s about a new thing, life, hope. The word is the opposite of all that is negative. Ultimately the choice to be creative brings a sudden thaw to the negative, lifeless and hopeless energies that are causing my spirit to feel cast down...
And of course creativity comes from a creator God. He works in us and all around us by his creative spirit. One of the first mentions of his Holy Spirit in the bible was as an infilling of creativity.
Exodus 31:3-6
I have filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God. I have given him the skill, ability and knowledge to do all kinds of work. He is able to design pieces to be made from gold, silver and bronze. He is able to cut jewels and put them in metal. And he can carve wood. Bezalel can do all kinds of work.
It makes complete sense to me that by choosing to write or paint or sing or cook an amazing meal, we are actually silently inviting in the Holy Spirit to minister to our sadness or our anxiety or depression. It may not be a prescribed treatment, we may not see it as that important, but when we acknowledge that it might be an antidote to negative thinking, we begin to see creativity in a different light.
But it’s a choice too. It’s very easy sometimes to spiral down, to go with the negative flow. the challenge is to look out for ways to disrupt that negative flow and give God the opportunity to influence us through his creative Holy Spirit. It’s absolutely the antidote we need.
Jane Reeves