Damsel's Values: We all need a dose of creativity in our lives!

Creativity is the second of our values here at Damsel Not In Distress.

I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t live without creativity. Music. Art. Poetry. Creative thought. Creative problem solving. The list goes on.

I simply couldn’t have healed without a good dose of creativity.

Thinking and logic get all the attention so much of the time. And there is absolutely a massive role for thinking and logic – we have a unique ability as humans to reason our way through complex problems. Humanity couldn’t possibly have achieved all the wondrous things that it has without laser-focused logic and analytical brains to discover linkages, cause and effect, theories that explain our reality.

But reasoning alone can’t give us the answer to every problem we face. And I have found that logic alone wasn’t enough to heal me.

My most exhilarating personal experience of creativity was when I wrote my first musical at university. I was part of a Christian group that put on a production of some sort every year. I’ll never forget the planning meeting where we were figuring out what to do when we all returned in the autumn. Suddenly, I found myself offering to write a musical.

What now?!

Where did that come from??

True, I had written some Christmas carols, songs and piano pieces at school, but nothing remotely as challenging as a musical. Where had those words come from? Why did I think I was capable of this? What would the subject even be??

And the worst part was, I had quite a busy summer planned. A visit to Lithuania coordinating a kid’s camp. A family holiday. Bridesmaid duties at a wedding. Doing a summer uni project. When on earth was I going to write a musical, for goodness’ sake?!

I don’t remember where the idea of using the book of Esther in the Bible came from – but it was inspired! There are good guys and bad guys, fun times and incredibly sad times, several plot twists, and a happy ending – what more could you ask for in a storyline for a musical?

Nothing happened for quite a while that summer. I wrote a few song lyrics but not much else. The deadline started to loom large. And larger. And larger still.

Then, suddenly, BOOM.

It happened! During that summer uni project, a few weeks before everyone would pile back for the autumn semester, it all cascaded out of me. Breathlessly exciting! Every afternoon after work, I would rush back to my piano and most of the musical was written in about ten days.

I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since. I certainly couldn’t explain rationally where it all came from.

We put on the musical and it was an awesome experience, something I will never forget.

I always assumed I would keep on writing music – in fact, I was convinced that I was destined to write a second musical, one that I had to create from scratch. I would periodically tell people I trusted that I was sure that I was supposed to write something meaningful that would touch people at a soul level.

But there was a problem. I was devoid of ideas.

How can you touch people at a soul level when you have no idea what to write about?

THIS was my core dilemma. Fundamentally, I didn’t have anything of any value to share.

It turns out this stifling of my creativity was all tied up with the emotional abuse that I’d suffered from my father, but I couldn’t really see that at the time. Every now and again, I would write a song on a theme that spoke to me, but there wasn’t really a plan or common thread.

Or at least I thought there wasn’t. As it turns out, the various disparate songs I wrote over the years tell the story of my healing journey, now that I can see the overall picture more clearly. I expect I’ll be sharing more about this exciting project in the coming months – watch this space!

Creativity has also sustained me in so many ways on my healing journey. Songs that speak to me at particular moments. Pieces of art that inspire me to see the world in a different way. Stories that touch my soul. Poems that express something in a way I could never have done myself.

It honestly feels as if these gifts of other people’s creativity are sometimes sent especially for me at pivotal moments in my journey. I’m convinced there’s a force out there sending me just what I need, when I need it. I like to call that force God…

Here’s to creativity inspiring us on our journeys!

You can find out about the third value at Damsel Not In Distress – adventure – here!