The Importance of Creativity in the Work We Do Together.

Tree of Life oil painting by Amy Lynn Couch

​​Over the years I have used various creative methods to heal Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and can testify to to the immense healing potential for personal transformation by tap rooting into the creative well-spring that each of us lay claim to and were born with.

All of the work I do is inspired by my own healing journey through life. From spiritual seeking, shamanic practices, psychotherapy, daily journalling, and meditation, to a host of other alternative healing practices, I have sought to heal the fractures in my own being. CPTSD, addiction, and mental health challenges plagued me for much of my life. Art making, alongside all of these other practices, has been a way to experience a sense of refuge, connect with my own resilience, strength, and vulnerability, and engender a sense of joy, ease, flow, and grace. Creative expression in all forms was and is an integral part of the process of returning to a felt sense of wholeness. I see creativity as a spiritual thread inherent in every individual that weaves through all of the Four Pillars of Self-Care & Wellness. How it expresses in and through you will be as unique and magnificent as you are.

Where does creativity fit in? In a word? Everywhere.

Creativity can be as simple as making a new choice for yourself. Pausing before the old reactivity hijacks your self-awareness and actions. Taking a breath, questioning the old story and fashioning a new, more empowering narrative that leads to a new choice, behavior, and outcome. Allowing for the space, flexibility, and expansiveness of a new idea to arise naturally from your being is creativity in action.

I believe everyone of us is wired for creative expression and healing. It's part and parcel of our humanity. If you think you don't have a creative bone in your body, think again. Every bone and cell in your body and every breath you take is infused with the Creative Power of Viriditas. It's like the apps on your phone that come preloaded, and you can't get rid of them no matter how hard you try. You can ignore them and forget about them, but they're still there. Creativity is like that. Sometimes we just need to take the time to reload it and begin working with it to get the flow started again. Maybe you think you lost it sometime in childhood or when you grew into a serious adult, but it's still there. It is your birthright and infuses every cell of your being.

Claim it. Make space for it. Work with it. Play with it. And I promise you, IT will begin to work on you.​​​

Taking the time to write in a journal daily to witness and process your thoughts and feelings, or dancing out frustration and anger, or digesting and metabolizing stuck emotions through whole body vocal toning, scribbling with crayons or doodling with a pen, a new spice when cooking, etc… are all ways creativity can show up in your life and begin to loosen then death grip old patterns have on our lives. Ariditas chokes our life force energy to a trickle. Or a dry river bed where nothing grows anymore.

The good news is, we can open the flow of creativity (and Viriditas) anytime. It is always there waiting for us to turn the valve to open again. Clean the rust and calcification off and begin tasting the clear life giving waters of the truth of our hearts and the deepest expression of who we truly are.

Viriditas Birds oil painting by Amy Lynn Couch