Healing is a crucial part of our journey as Jesus empowered women, as it leads to growth.
Though Jesus should always be at the center of the process, we can find healing through a variety of avenues. If you're creative, one of those can be your artistic talents.
Whether you draw comics, bake cakes, build homes, or compose music, the arts can facilitate healing in numerous ways - which is exactly what I'm going to cover in this episode!
Join me, sister, in discovering three key ways in which your God-given creativity can help bring catharsis, comfort, and healing to your soul!
Show Notes:
Intro
I think creativity is highly underestimated, if not forgotten altogether. Which always baffles me because the first line in the Bible is about God creating. It’s one of the first character traits that we learn about Him.
All we have to do is look outside our windows to see how powerful creativity can be. It soothes, comforts, lowers our blood pressure, awes us with beauty…among a host of other things.
And of course, creativity has endless mediums right? Photography, woodworking, graphic design, interior design, singing, writing music, TV, movies, and plays…the list is endless.
And all of these mediums are powerful. We tell stories through them to encourage and connect with others. To reveal the truth. To make gifts and bring joy to people’s lives. To earn a living. To expose people to a new way of thinking or a different perspective. And historically speaking, when a nation is repressed, culture (i.e. creativity) is what often continues to subvert that ruling power and carry on the truth.
There’s no denying that creativity is powerful. But it’s not just a powerful vehicle to impact others…it can also impact us as well.
If you’re a regular listener to the podcast, or even if you’re new to the show, chances are you’re carrying a lot of wounds - some of them deeper than others. But they’re all things that Jesus wants to heal.
I remember back to the days after I was Saved, which was about twenty years ago now. Jesus began to do a lot of healing. Healing of wounds, coupled with new or renewed mindsets. I had a lot of baggage, coming from an abusive childhood and being in an abusive marriage.
Back then, I was dabbling with web design. It started out as a hobby before I got my degree. And my playground at the time was my JennMurray.com domain. I would make posts about specific songs that were speaking to me at the time - and what they meant to me.
It wasn’t a website that other people were visiting. Not even my friends. It was simply a creative outlet where I could express what I was thinking and feeling - and have some visual fun with colors and fonts and the like as I explored the medium of web design.
My website was a creative outlet as I worked through my thoughts, feelings, and what was happening in my life.
And whatever your creative talent is - whether it’s writing, or the visual arts, or baking, or something extremely niche…your creativity can help you process, gain perspective and awareness, find comfort, work through it, and find healing. Again, it doesn’t matter what your artistic talent is. I guarantee you, if you stop and think about it a bit, you’ll see how your artistic talent can do the same.
So let’s look at some specific ways that your creativity can facilitate healing. Whether you’re doing a private project (for your eyes only), or mixing catharism with business, or collaborating with others.
1) It can help you remember positive things that have been long forgotten.
That positive thing can be a memory, person, pivotal interaction, or even something that you’ve forgotten about yourself.
As I’ve started writing my book, I’ve found the latter to be true. As I’ve begun writing about my childhood, and who I was before things like my father’s abuse squelched and changed who I was (and who God created me to be), I’m remembering things that I need to take note of.
For example, I was born a very joyful, enthusiastic, and encouraging person. Which also means I spoke up without worrying about what other people thought…as very young children do. But then my father’s emotional and mental abuse began to take their toll. I drew into myself because that was safe.
And then culture started having its effect, teaching me that boys got to speak up when- and however they wanted. But girls should be silent and smile. (I forget the exact age, but I believe studies have shown that by the age of four or five, or thereabouts, girls already begin to take notice of the difference between how boys and girls are treated and start changing because of it.)
And I can recall certain interactions where a man would make me feel silly or stupid for speaking - even when it was in response to a queston they asked. I remember as a young child being at some sort of event where we were being taught how to sing a song. Afterward, the man leading the group (whom I believe was a pastor) asked if anyone wasn’t familiar with the song. Since I hadn’t heard of it before we’d sung it, I said I hadn’t. And then, in front of the group, he made fun of me for answering that way because we had just sung it - so how could I not be familiar with it?
I’m sure I’m not the only woman who looks back and can lose count over the times a man, or a woman, have made her feel silly or stupid or in the wrong for being who she’s meant to be…and/or speaking up. And so, she’s dimmed who she was meant to be.
Working on my book, though, has reminded me that I’ve never fully regained that joyful, enthusiastic self. Not to the level that I was before. I have no trouble speaking up nowadays, but even so, I think I’m still keeping that really joyful Jenn deep inside because she learned, long ago, it was safer to hide it. But now that I’m aware, I can work on reclaiming that.
This is just one example, but your creativity can help you remember any number of good things.
2) It can help you process and express your feelings - including the ones that you’re not currently aware of.
The Western world isn’t all that great when it comes to making mental and emotional health a priority. We’re making strides, but we're certainly a far cry from things like the ancient Jewish custom of putting on sackcloth and dousing our heads in ashes. (Or whatever a modern equivalent would be.) Instead, we’re still more stiff British upper-lip…”must go on” and all that.
As a result, we often don’t know how to process something or work through our feelings. But creative people know how to be creative. And when we give ourselves permission to explore our wounds, stories, or feelings through the safety of our art, we can find that the how takes care of itself. Especially if we’re bringing it to Jesus at the same time, as He’ll meet us there within the process.
As a result, as you create, you’ll likely discover perspectives and emotions you didn’t even know were there. And so there can be this full assessing, and processing, and emoting, and thinking of all the things, and bringing them to Jesus, and ultimately finding healing and peace. And things that were once there, affecting you in the dark, will have come to light and be dealt with. Which means you’re unburdening yourself and finding healing at the same time.
And as you create something, whatever that looks like, you’ve also created something out of all of those emotions, wounds, and the process of processing it. Whether the final product is comical, dark, or gorgeous…you’ve created something. Not only have you facilitated healing, but you’ve taken control by funneling everything into a new creation…and that’s very powerful and healing in and of itself.
3) It can help you lay things to rest and fully move onto the next season.
Being a Jesus empowered woman, and a Christian in general, is all about being on a journey with Jesus. You’re constantly growing, changing, transforming, doing things you never thought possible, becoming someone you never thought possible. It’s also a walk with Jesus where, at certain intervals, you’re essentially leveling up or moving into a new season.
And sometimes, to move forward, we need to put the last season behind us. We might not forget about it. We may still tell our story to help others. But emotionally, mentally, we may need to put it behind us in some way. We need to be in a healthy place with it. Or, maybe it’s time to focus on it less so we can focus on the new things that God has for us.
I believe that’s one of the many reasons God has me writing my book. Yes, it’s to show women, through my own journey, that it’s possible to go from where they are to where they long to be. Yes, it will bring in income and be a part of my business’s sales funnel.
But I haven’t really taken a good look at my past from a place of mature growth. I mean, God had to purposefully resurrect my childhood dream of writing because I’d long forgotten about it and, when I did look back and think about it, I saw it as something I had done purely for escape. Now that I’m embracing that dream again, and writing that book, I’m also revisiting my past as a whole.
And while my book will be a public creation, and be something that I continue to point to and use for discussion for years to come, I believe that right now, God wants to use it as a way to bring some closure before moving me onto the next season.
Now, your creative project or endeavor doesn’t have to be public like my book will be; it can be something that you create for yourself and Jesus and then never leaves your closet.
But going through the process and creating something physical from that process…again, whatever that looks like for you…there’s a lot of healing and power in that. Not to mention that, having a physical representation of that past or progress that you can symbolically stow away can help you to move forward.
Wrap-up
And speaking of moving forward, as we wrap-up this episode, I hope today’s message has been helpful to you. And not too serious! I know that usually, when I do an episode on creativity, it’s more lighthearted and fun. But I really felt like this was an important message to get out there.
Healing can be a tough business - there’s no doubt about it. It can take longer than we’d like…even when Jesus is right there in the center of it. And it can encompass a multitude of things.
But, sister, I truly believe that your creativity is a powerful tool in your arsenal in that regard. Don’t be afraid to use your artistic talent as a way to find hope and healing. In fact, it can make the process less scary and abstract. Invite Jesus into the process. See what happens! I bet you’ll be astonished at the results. Cheers!