The power of art and creativity to sustain us
Can engaging in creative practices help us on our journey of Sustainable Ambition? Can we apply them to live and work in more fulfilling and satisfying ways?
These are the questions I’ve been exploring with my last three podcast guests, and I've absolutely loved learning from them. Today I’m featuring my conversations with podcast executive producer Emily Shaw and Dr. Tasha Golden, a singer/songwriter turned public health scientist who is the Director of Research at the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine and adjunct faculty in the University of Florida's Center for Arts in Medicine.
I found these so inspiring and walked away with so many insights. I’ll pull through a few that stood out to me that relate to how art and creativity can help build our resilience and sustain us along the way.
Appreciate art for your well-being.
While appreciating art on its own has been shown to contribute to our well-being, mental health, and improve health outcomes, this wasn’t Tasha’s focus. Sure, she’d love to see us incorporate art into our lives, and she believes there’s an even bigger opportunity.
My enjoyment of art this month: Vitamin String Quartet. So fun!
Find your expression and process your life.
In my conversation with Tasha, she shared how humans evolved to make and experience art. What she emphasized and what was important for her builds on my conversation with Doug Neill in Episode 131—how art and creativity provide another means for us to express ourselves. She said:
“So a lot of times my big tip is to expect that as a human you're going to need multiple ways to share and express and bear witness to and process your life.”
“This is clearly why we evolved to use a different kind of communicative mechanism. That just must be part of what we need as human beings in order to express the vast complexity of the human experience. Not everything can be drilled down into a really straightforward conversation. And then even if it could, sometimes some of us would feel that that's not quite appropriate for whatever we're feeling in the moment.”
Be more human, rather than performative and robotic. Color outside the lines.
A core part of Tasha’s work witnesses and connects to our humanity. She pushes against the need to fit into the limited acceptable ways of being and encourages us to be more expressive. Based on the discussion, I asked Tasha if she thought part of burnout might relate to the idea of us feeling the need to embrace such performative behaviors that are robotic in nature, as opposed to being more real and human. She agreed and shared:
“How would I go about my days if I didn't try to confine myself to showing up as a kind of robotic professional? And if I knew that I needed something more expansive than that in order to be whole and in order to sustain my work over the long term? What might I do differently? How might I see the art and creativity in my life a little bit differently?”
“So, yes, I think a big part of burnout is not having a license to be a human, and instead feeling like you have to perform the robot choreography that you've been given.”
“I always hope that the work that I'm doing as far as my research and consulting or anybody that I get to work with, the biggest hope that I have is that on the other side of it, people are a little bit more likely to think bigger about what life is and what's possible for them. You don't have to stay in your lane. There is no lane. We made the lanes up. You don't have to color inside the lines.”
Find your doable “creative practice” that gives you joy.
Research has shown that those with a serious hobby outside of work that is active vs. passive are better able to manage challenging and stressful jobs. I loved how Emily models intentionally having a creative practice outside her work, a playground where she can hone her artistry. There’s a distinction for her between her creativity as work that’s a part of commerce vs. creativity as her personal art and something she does for her personal enjoyment.
“I think it doesn’t matter what your job is. It doesn’t matter what you’re getting paid for. What's important is actually just to do something that feels enjoyable, just to make space in the day, even if it's cooking something or painting for five minutes. It doesn't need to be your job title on LinkedIn. I just think it's important to connect with that creative energy.”
“To me, it kind of feels like there's this river of creativity that's always flowing under the surface. And every time I do my little practice in the day or a bigger practice, I'm connecting with that flow that's always happening. And then it just energizes me. I think it's important to tap into that.”
What I appreciate about what both Tasha and Emily shared is how we can walk through the world differently than many of us likely do. There is a way of being, of expression, of experiencing that can allow us to be more free and human, and in so doing, help us find some relief and ease.
It’s with such energy I hope you step into your summer.
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