Creativity

Introduction to Gratitude

0:00Welcome to the Art of Gratitude with me, Margaret Alvarez, creativity coach, artist, and art teacher, teaching people how to combine creativity and mindfulness for their mental well-being. I am so excited about today's episode. Thank you for being here. I know it's been a little while, but life gets busy. I am sure we all can relate.

0:26Today's episode is going to be about creativity. Just creativity. Like, let's just talk about it. Why is it beneficial? Why do I feel so strongly about using creativity for my mental well-being? Why does it work for people? And who's missing out on this wonderful thing that we all have access to? Because they might be scared to buy the stuff, to do the thing, to, you know, experience it because they're not an artist.

0:57Oh my gosh, I hear this so often. I'm not an artist. I can't do this. Or, I'm not an artist. I might not be able to, you know, participate. I have people walking into my workshops feeling very anxious and telling me that they're not an artist. And then they walk out and they're so excited and just uplifted. And this is why I do what I do.

Flow State Explained

1:21So, you may have heard the term flow before. Flow is like being in the zone. It's when you are fully immersed in an activity. If you are just in the moment, you're doing the thing that you do. Some people will do this when they are, you know, performing. If they're a musician, if you are a athlete, you might be in the flow when things are just going really well. And artists, you know, painting a painting or doing the thing that they do. You just get in this moment.

1:51And the flow, the being fully immersed, also involves not thinking about anything. And I think that this is really important to my work because I try to teach people how to get in the flow so that they're not thinking or anxious or, you know, just feeling bad feelings or, you know, whatever it is that they're going through. So, that's why it's so powerful. If you sit down and do this art that I'm showing you how to do, then you actually get in the zone.

2:22You get in the flow. And so, the book that I'm reading right now called Don't Believe Everything You Think, it was a TikTok buy, but it was just one of those things. It's by Joseph Nguyen. It's a short read. It has all of these concepts that I've read in other books, you know, and it kind of just puts all of these different ideas together. And it talks about creativity and flow. So, it basically tells you that when you're in flow, when you're in the flow, you are not thinking.

2:56And that is where we get in trouble. Our analytical minds want to pick things apart when we should just let thoughts float away. And so, what happens is that we, instead of letting the thought float by, we start analyzing it and we start thinking about things. And then it leads to other things that you're thinking about. And then this is like the endless cycle of anxiety that happens. And I am so guilty of this. And so, this is why this book, I really connected with this book. And a lot of these ideas that I read all of the time about thinking and, you know, our analytical minds and how we just pick things apart.

3:34And this is why we are constantly stressed and we are constantly feeling like overwhelmed because we allow these things to just attack us in a way.

3:47So, it's so funny because in this book, he actually quotes a book that I just read and talked about, Atomic Habits by James Clear. And it says, his quote is, anxiety is thought without control and flow is control without thought. So, when we get in the flow, we're just not thinking. And that is a good place to be in because that's where all of our best work comes from. And so, it's just this beautiful, when you get in it, you can feel it.

4:17You're just, you know, time goes by really fast. And so, recently, as I'm doing workshops with people, I start talking about that. Like, you know, how is this making you feel? And how are you, you know, like, and so then we talk about that flow. Like, I'm in it. I didn't even realize time had gone by. And then I talk about the importance of flow and how we just did an hour-long workshop and it went by so fast. And the reason was is because we were in the moment. We were present.

4:48We were flowing, you know. It was just, it's been a really excellent reminder for me to read this book and for it to talk about flow and for me to connect with it in my workshops with my clients and with my people. You know, this is why I do what I do. You know, I want people to feel this and I want them to be able to escape their brains a little bit and just get into the moment. Be present right here, right now. Okay, so this is a direct quote from the book.

5:18When you are doing your best work and are in total, in a total state of flow, where there is no separation between you and the work you are doing, you have no thoughts. And if you have thoughts, they're flowing right through you without you having to think about them. In other words, the state of peak performance for humans can be described as a state of non-thinking. To be completely honest, I actually never thought about the state of flow and the state of my thoughts. And so I love how this book separates thoughts and thinking.

5:51So thoughts come from the universe or God or whatever you believe. Those thoughts kind of flow to you naturally. And it's your mind that starts to do the thinking. So your job is to just not think, to try to push those thoughts aside. I heard an analogy about, in one of my books, about thoughts being clouds and they just kind of pass you by. And it's up to you whether you want to overanalyze them or to pick them apart or just let them go.

6:23And just be in the moment and let it be a thought. Just let it be a thought. Another thing that I read one time was just talking about thoughts not being real. Like I think a lot of the times we start thinking like, oh, what if this happens? And you start to panic and you have to remember like our thoughts are not real. You're creating a scenario in your head that does not exist. And I've always remembered that because it was really helpful to me because I would overanalyze things. And I just thought, no, no, no, no, no, no.

6:54And I have to stop myself. And I think as humans, we just naturally start to pick things apart because we live in a crazy world. I mean, let's just be honest. It is a crazy world. And we start to, you know, especially if we are subjected to the news or to things that, you know, just they get your brain going. And it's not healthy. And, you know, we just have to learn how to understand our brains a little bit more. And that's why I love this book so much. It's really, it's great.

7:25Okay, I'm just going to read this one last quote. We only hesitate, are reluctant, have doubts, insecurities, and fears only when we begin thinking and overanalyzing. We function, perform our best, and embody our full potential when we enter a non-thinking state. Without thinking, we are free from the limitations of the ego and can create the most incredible things in the world. So this was a really profound chapter that I read.

7:57And I was just thinking like, oh, I was just thinking about doing this creativity podcast. I really just wanted to talk about creativity in general. I started to think about all of these new places that are popping up. These wine, you know, paint and sip kind of places where you go with your friends and you do art, you do painting, you know, these pottery studios. And now these, you know, creative outlets that are kind of coming out like, oh, date night and let's go throw some pottery or let's do this or that.

8:31There's a reason why people, especially artists, I'm sorry, especially people who are not artists are so enjoying these little outlets. Because what they do is they don't do this all the time. They go and do the thing. And then all of a sudden they realize like how much they love it. Some people discover that this is something that they want to do outside of just going to this place. I think I'm going to buy some paints. I think I'm going to do this. In my work, it's really important that I make things accessible.

9:03I use really basic materials like, you know, Crayola watercolors and Crayola crayons and, you know, simple journaling, stencils, you know, Sharpies. We just use really basic things. And there's so much that can come out of just using these basic things. I don't want to freak people out. I want people to come in and see the things and say, oh, okay, like, you know, this looks fun. And that's usually the response I get when people see what's on the table for them.

9:34Like, come on in, check it out. And they get excited. Like, oh, we get to do something fun. And it doesn't matter if you're an artist or not. It's the, first of all, the nostalgia of using some of the things that we haven't used since we were kids, but also just the idea that you get to put everything aside, all your thoughts, all your, you know, whatever you're worried about, and you just get to do this thing for a little bit. And the benefit from this is just really that you get to get out of your head for a little bit. And that is why creativity is so important.

10:05And that is why, you know, I feel that people need more of this, that they need to make the time or at least have the ability to put all these things together and just make that one little, you know, I don't know, put a box together with all your art supplies that you've gathered over time and just make it a point to do this every once in a while. Or when you are feeling stressed, do a little experiment, like sit down and try to do some creative, something creative, you know, I think that if we could just push ourselves a little bit to do something different, and it doesn't have to be art, it can be anything creative, go to a cooking class or, you know, learn something that you haven't learned.

Creativity and Mental Wellbeing

10:50I saw a lot of this come out during the pandemic, which is really what inspired me to do what I'm doing now, because I felt like people needed it. I really felt like people needed that outlet. And it led me to open, you know, this, do this business, my art to coach, to really just teach people, like, it's okay to sit down, journaling is fun, and it can be very therapeutic. And, you know, I'm not an art therapist, I'm just simply an artist, art teacher, mom, human, that has used this creative outlet, journaling, in my life for the past, you know, 10 years, combining it with gratitude.

11:31I've actually been doing this longer, journaling has been a part of my life since high school. But actually doing gratitude art journaling, I've been doing for 10 years, and it worked, like it really worked for me, it was, it was a place that I'd go to if I just needed to write something down, it was a place that I would go to if I needed inspiration, you know, and it helped me so much. And I just feel like people need to understand what flow is to, to get out of their heads a little bit.

12:02We suffer and live so much of our lives in our own world, in our head, thinking and just overanalyzing and just, we're so in the grind of it. And just, you know, how many times have you have you sat down with somebody and just, they're like, Oh, man, you know, just working and doing this. And, you know, it's like this, this, we have this culture of complaining, and, you know, wanting to put a label on all of the things that we're feeling, because, oh, gosh, you know, we're, you know, inflation and got to be working harder and everything, you know, and you start to hear the same conversations, because people don't know what to do with those emotions, they don't know what to do with it.

12:42But it's, you know, let's just sit down and complain, because it's a it's a conversation I can have with somebody. First of all, it's very easy to sit with somebody and say, man, you know, gosh, this world is crazy. And then you can just go on and on, because there's tons of things that we can talk about. What if we used, you know, these conversations and flipped them a little bit? What if we turned our, you know, thinking brains off and just did something that that that, I don't know, inspired us a little bit?

13:13You know, it's what we talk, it's how we talk, it's what we what we think, it's what we say, it's, you know, all of the things that we need to start taking responsibility for. Because these things that we're saying, and we're talking, we're doing, they are the reason we are where we are, as a person, as a human. So just kind of looking at yourself, you know, do you, how do you start a conversation? What do you do to to help your mental state? And what could you do?

13:44Or what could you try? You know, I am going to start offering art lessons, classes, you know, journaling, and all of the things that I've been doing to families, just to help them to connect with their children and, you know, help people who are going through grief to connect with their family and just to have that time together. Because it is so important to take a brain break and just really do something, you know, that is going to help you to help you just to to get in a flow where you can see that there Oh, wow, there's a line here.

14:20Like, I just, you know, a whole hour just went by and I didn't even realize that I need this, my brain needs a break, I need a break. And so how do I teach myself to stop thinking? That is what I try to do. That is what create being creative and creativity does. And I just want to share this with everybody I can. So I hope that this inspires you in some way.

14:46So as I'm ending this episode, I just want to encourage you if you haven't tried to be creative lately, try it. If you are journaling and following along with some of the prompts that I share, then set aside some time to journal regularly, like do it regularly. And see how it changes you, like set a time a day every week to do it. If you have children, I want to encourage you to do this with your children, like connect with them in that way. It can be a really joyful time if you can set some time aside just to do this and not have any kind of, you know, expectation of what you're creating.

15:26Just have fun with materials. And I will be back with a lot more of these kinds of prompts. As always, you can reach out to me through Instagram. Just message me. You can find me through My Artsy Coach. I have a website, myartsycoach.com. There's a lot of ways you can get a hold of me if you're interested in more ideas. I would be happy to share them with you. And I will talk to you guys again really soon.

15:57Thank you for being here. And I hope you have a lovely afternoon, morning, day, whatever. I'll talk to you soon. I'll talk to you soon.