Freedom to explore, express, & imagine. “As I healed, I started dreaming again.”

When was the last time that you embraced your creative side? Or are you like I once was: convinced that you were born without a creative bone in your body? I never viewed myself as creative. I associated creativity with artistic and I am most definitely not artistic! What if I told you that creativity can be found in any field, artistic or not?

Creativity is the ability to come up with new and useful ideas and the ability to think outside the box to come up with new ways to solve problems. When I look at creativity from this lens, I am able to see that I am an extremely creative person. One of my strengths is to look at problems, analyze what is occurring, and trying new ideas to get a better outcome. It is this strength that has allowed me to be such an effective advocate for my children. The road to arrive at this realization was long and painful, but definitely worth it.

When I got divorced, I was subjected to incredibly harmful and hateful messages almost daily. I lived in a constant state of anxiety, always on the edge of a panic attack and at times, completely dissociated because it was the only way I could cope with the barrage of messages about what a terrible mother I was. I am convinced that nothing hurts more than accusing a woman of being a bad mother. And unfortunately, most narcissists realize this as well and it is a tactic used to terrorize victims into silence and compliance.

There is no living from a state of self-leadership in that state. Life is about survival. Creative problem solving is not even a passing thought! As I began my healing journey, I eventually learned to stop giving away my power to someone else. I was not going to live in fear and I was definitely not going to sit by and watch my children suffer. The farther I went on my healing journey, the more I saw this creative side come out. Having six kids, as you might imagine, comes with experiencing a lot of difficult circumstances: ADHD, dyslexia, PANDAS, autism, speech, chronic illness just to name a few! No matter what I faced, I was ready with research and new ideas to make life better for my kids. I was (and still am) a fierce advocate. I’m also very good at it! This would not have been possible if I had stayed living in a state of survival.

Along the way, I have also discovered that I do have an artistic creative side. I love design and marketing. I love creating tools to help people in their daily lives. I love writing. There was also that one Christmas where I loved Hobby Lobby and making Christmas wreaths (sorry, Andrew)! I am so grateful that I have been able to learn how to regulate myself so that I do not have to stay in survival mode. I have the energy to create. I have the ability to devote time to activities that will hopefully make the world a little better every day.

What areas of life do you love exploring? What ideas do you have? What dreams about making the world a better place do you hold dear? We all have something. It is part of being human.