HOW CREATIVITY AND ART OVERCOME ECONOMIC BLUES

I don't know about you, but all the negativity in the media regarding the economy almost brought me to a screeching halt - creatively and emotionally. It's very hard to keep a positive outlook while all around you are Wild Peeps screaming that the sky is falling!

Pop Art Wild Peeps done for my Wild Peep War Campaign

Though I rarely intentionally listen to the news because it is always so sensationalized and negative, I found myself being exposed to it without choice. Short teasers on TV before I could hit the mute button, headlines glaring at me from newsstands and internet pages, snips of conversations that drifted my way, ad naseum. It was seeping right into my unconscious and infecting me without me even being aware and hitting me right in my most vulnerable spot - my financial security!

Suddenly I found myself waking in the middle of the night worrying about it. I became aware of negative thoughts flitting through my mind and overtaking my creative energy. I was waking up tired and lacking my usual excitement of getting to work on my art and my writing. I wanted to sleep more and numb my brain with the boob tube. My usual sense of humor had dulled too, and my humor is one of my biggest defenses against the Negativity Monster! Yes, I was still working but my heart wasn't in it - how sad is that? This crap had to stop!

Illustrated Martini Nano Story done for Martini Diva post and as spot illustration for my martini book

I am, like everyone else, struggling with this economy, but I cannot let the negativity seep into my psyche and corrupt me - it is like an acid that can corrode creativity and industry. If you wallow in all the bad thoughts all your creative and emotional cogs get so damaged that your entire life mechanism freezes up! I had to put a stop to the downward spiral - for me that means doing something creative - even if it's just designing and building a little mini martini bar for my new home. So that's how I kick started my positivity again after a few weeks of passion deprivation. Sometimes just doodling or doing a little crafty project can stimulate your creative juices.

Working on something creative always keeps my mind focused on the positive and, at the end of the day, I've accomplished something which is always uplifting. Additionally, I tend to be whimsical and humorous in my creative endeavors and humor is always good for the soul. Even if you're the only one who thinks it's funny and you are cackling like a madman to yourself, the laughter is sparking all those good receptors in your brain and adding speed to your descent out of the black hole of negativity! So what if no one else gets the joke???

This doodle of a seventies platform boot inspired this Illustrated Nano Story for The PopArtDiva Blog and it made me giggle.

Then I was just in a good enough humor to get an idea for having some fun with Easter Marshmallow Peeps and started a whole fictional Wild Peep War! You can read the entire "campaign" at last Wild Peep update at The Brat in The Hat. Then, of course, I had to do a Wild Peep Nano story for the Martini Blog and a Wild Peep Martini for Easter!

I also uploaded some new Martini Art to The PopArtDiva Boutique. I try to get several designs done ahead of time and release one each week.

x

x

And, of course, new martini recipe cards for The Martini Diva:

x

x

So now I'm fully back in the "flow" and feeling my spirits and positivity lift on a daily basis - though I have to watch for those sneaky little Negativity Monsters, they like to creep up behind you and get you when you're not looking! Oh, and I'm faster with the mute button and I have imaginary blinders on to screen out the headlines!

VISUALIZE, VISUALIZE: I am using a new technique a friend taught me for visualization. I'm supposed to remember times when I was doing my best financially and bring that emotion into my visualizations for the present. It's like rewriting - you take a good memory and tweak it with current events but keep the positive emotions from the actual memory! Interesting that as a visual artist I find it easier to do this by writing the "story" instead of making a "movie" in my head.

IT'S ALL IN HOW YOU LOOK AT IT: First, you have to be aware, you have to be vigilant about your thoughts and where they are going! It's easy to slide back into old habits of negativity without knowing you're doing it. My first clue was my lack of energy and passion for my work. I had to stop, pay attention to how I was looking at my life and put the brakes on the old baggage of "what if" thinking. I had to look back and see that somehow I always found a way to keep afloat - even during the worst economic downturns! I had to see myself as a person able to use my creativity to create more work, more income and more good things! I had to get mad first, I don't like feeling down and for me getting mad always gets me fired up and energized. Then I had to do something about it - like seeing all the negativity as a challenge.

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE: I'm grateful for my passion for my art and writing, it's my anti-depressant of choice! I'm grateful for friends who listen when you're down and point out things you cannot see. I'm grateful that the Spring weather is sunny and the jasmine is blooming and making the air smell wonderful outside. I'm grateful for waking up to birds singing and Pixel's tail wagging and morning kisses.

------------------------

Unless otherwise noted, all images and art on this site are © PopArtDiva.com 2002 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Buy Great Art Inspired Products at The LIFE IS LIKE ART Shop!