Creative Expression

  • Expansiveness and Freedom
The creative arts stimulate our senses, our bodies, our thoughts and our feelings. While creating, we are momentarily lifted beyond the bounds of our ordinary realm of existence, we are free to think, feel and express what arises naturally.
 
  • Alternative Communication
The creative arts involve expression through images, sound and movement. They engage right-brain processing which is more holistic, less detail oriented, less logical, but more integrative. It enables individuals to explore and express a troublesome thought, feeling or conflict in a new way, through an image, sound or a movement that communicates it more directly than ever before. Even when using words, as in a creative writing session, the words have more power and take on an expanded meaning.
 
  • Internal communication
During the creative act we are linked with our inner selves. We find new ways to interact with an object, and to communicate our thoughts and feelings.   We are engaged in a union with our unique self that is different from normal consciousness. When creating, courage, perserverence and problem solving is involved when we work with materials, our bodies and movement, words, sound etc.
 
  • External communication
Through the expressive arts we bring our ideas and feelings into a form that may include words, and that is often beyond words. We have the opportunity to say, “This is me. I exist. This is how I feel and see the world.” Sharing of the self in this unique way with others creates a bridge with other human beings, and helps to decrease feelings of social isolation and alienation.
 
  • Healing and the creative process
We are given the opportunity to escape the hectic and chaotic external and internal distractions of life. Creative activity can “freeze” time—only the activity of that moment exists. We are given the chance through this suspension of time, to regroup, rethink and reenter the world with a fresh perspective. During this “mental vacation” individuals who are anxious or disturbed will have noticeably more relaxed faces and bodies during creative activity. People may experience a surge of energy and a feeling of well being during the creative activity.
 
  • Social interactions
Interpersonal relations are developed through working out problems together. A group creative project can stimulate positive interactions between people, increase the capacity to give and receive, foster the development of trust and promote leadership skills. The joy of uniting with others in the creation and completion of a work is highly rewarding and can create friendships between group members.
 
According to Maslow’s (1968) hierarchy of needs, the act of creation fulfills the need to explore and express one’s potential and validates one’s own ability to do more than just survive.
 
 
Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs
 
 
Self Actualization
Ego and Esteem
Love and Belongingness
Safety and Security
Physiological