“In the beginning, God created.”
The first thing we are told about the character of God, is that He created. How radical is it that we were created in the image of the Creator? I believe the stirring deep in our souls and the craving for destiny fulfilled that we experience is largely due to the fact that we are innately creative souls.
Because we are created to create, we can rest assured that finding our purpose is always possible. This knowledge is profoundly hopeful. However, our creativity can often be overshadowed by nuerous factors.
As life progresses, we may become overwhelmed with addictions, trauma, stress, and limiting beliefs. Healing tends to be cast to the back-burner in favor of numbness, and a sort of callous begins to form around our hearts. This defensive shell around our hearts can seem to keep anything from piercing our soul, but also lets nothing flow past- including expression, authenticity, and love. We fear healing because of what we might face. Healing also means chipping away at the cage that we view is protecting our hearts. We aren’t quite capable of feeling fully because we have resigned ourselves to camp out in the land of dulled senses. We have created patterns and designed comfort zones based on numbness. Sometimes we are not fully numbed, but comfortably ignore or push away healing triggers. When something that needs to be resolved rises to the surface of our minds, we turn the other direction or silence that still, small voice.
We have been conditioned to desire and almost expect an uncomfortable, pain free life.
Healing initially has an element of pain attached to it. It is however, not a permanent, searing pain. In the same way a physical wound goes through a process, so do our souls. The initial dull shock, the searing, the disbelief. But what do we do first when we are wounded? We clean it. Yes, the sting can be breathtaking, but what is our alternative? If we skip the most important step, the cleaning and dressing of the wound, we risk infection. Infection delays the healing process and leads to future complications. It’s imperative that we take care to cleanse the wound, no matter the sting. Once we apply the salve and bandage, the equivalent of creative healing modalities, it is just a matter of time before the closing of the wound begins. When it is fully healed, there may be a scar or distant memory, but the general bulk of the pain will be behind us and not continue to arise.
The other side of healing is akin to the promised land. It reveals a soft heart. One that glows with peace in authenticity, wild creativity, and a confident sense of destiny. The bedrock of our souls must have a solid foundation. Our mind, body, and spirit are all intertwined and have an effect on each other. We need to gain a soul-level knowing of Who created us and for what purpose we were designed. The realization that we are created in the Creator’s image is transformational.
Our bodies are our temples.
Historically, temples were known as the place where heaven meets earth. What if we were to view our bodies so sacredly? What would this reveal to us? Our bodies are Creator-designed to communicate with us when they are out of balance. If our minds and souls are clear and healthy we are better equipped to hear from the Holy Spirit. If our bodies are healthy, our minds reap the benefits as well. This flow and communication with God through our hearts and minds seems to echo heaven on earth.
Our bodies are our temples.
Healing is not a solely painful process. Creative wellness allows us to discover healing modalities that fit our personalities and each of our unique situations. Healing can become an outlet through which our creativity flows. By exploring creative ways to heal and what works for our minds and bodies specifically, our creative blocks begin to dissolve at the very beginning of our healing process. Creativity and healing can be intertwined to set a solid internal foundation. I truly believe that healing can be a joyful adventure that produces clear vision and breakthrough. “Without a vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18) This perfectly speaks of how our souls were created to create, dream dreams, and how lost and hopeless we feel when we have no vision for the future. We have an innate desire placed in our hearts before the beginning of time to fulfill our destiny. Healing is the first step towards this.
Our Innate Worth
“For you created my innermost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. When I awake, I am still with you.” (Psalm 139:13-18)
I think one of the greatest struggles in life is not being able to truly grasp we are created in our Creator's image. We lose sight of the fact that we were known before we were even formed in our mother’s womb.
I love the Psalmist’s language in this passage. It is a calming and precious acknowledgement of our worth before we even take our first breath. The care and love that is a part of our creation does not stop there. We are created with intention, purpose, and for the glory of God. To know Him and to be fully known by Him. What would it look like to fully realize this incredible truth? There are so many distractions we face that it can be hard to grasp the love of God.
The Psalms are some of the most uplifting passages in the Bible. One of the most important things I’ve learned in reading them is the power of praise and thanksgiving, and the importance of infusing them into every area of my life. Starting your day by reading Psalm 139 in its entirety is a fantastic way to set the tone of your day. It speaks truth about your Creator-instilled worth, comforts an uneasy soul, and declares praise. Listening to your own voice declaring this goodness helps to ingrain a thought process based on God’s unconditional love.
We can tend to view God’s love for us through a clouded lens. If we have experienced an emotionally absent parent, an abusive partner, or some other skewed form of what love means, we tend to subconsciously limit the extent of God’s love and compassion. Renewing our minds with the truth is imperative.
The Beginning of Healing
“You’re not good enough.” “Why do you think you are deserving of a bright future?” “You have no original ideas.”
As creatives, we often have thousands of thoughts swirling in our mind at any given time. It can often seem like the negative outweigh the positive. The negative internal dialogue we have replaying in our minds can significantly impact our creativity, healing process, and overall well-being. Once we are able to acknowledge these racing thoughts for the lies they are, we are that much closer to a sound mind.
Pinpointing the root of our trauma is often the exact place we need to start. It can be a seemingly dreaded task to dig up all of our old wounds. However, when we deal with them they are resolved once and for all. Writing is one of the most therapeutic things we can do and helps to release pent up emotions and thoughts. There are times when I really just do not want to write, but once a habit is formed and I can clearly see the progress being made within my own mind, it does get easier. I used to be fearful that someone would see my writings and be critical, shocked, or that I would just let too much of myself be seen. If this is the case for you, I would suggest starting out by writing in shorthand. This preserves some of your privacy, but you are still getting issues off of your heart.
Reflection
What are some of the main limiting beliefs in your life? Write down the top 5 limiting beliefs you are currently experiencing. Then transform the wording into life-giving phrases. Ex.: “I will never come up with original ideas.” Positive: “The source of my creativity comes from my Creator, therefore I have a never-ending supply of fresh vision.”
What are some great challenges or blocks that are present in your life? See if you can identify where the root of these issues lie. For each challenge you are facing, write down some ideas you have on how you can overcome each of these blocks.
How long has this negative mindset been in place?
Write down the traumatic events in your life that you can remember. Take your time. Pause when needed to give yourself words of comfort. This can seem highly intense at first, but I have found that it is so helpful as a first step in processing. Seeing a therapist is always a good idea, but sometimes when the healing process is first beginning, it can be overwhelming. This is a good way to take the first step, but with the comfort of going at your own pace. If you are uncomfortable with this step as a whole (a lot of times people will not want what they have experienced to be written or typed for people to see until they are ready), I love the idea of writing in shorthand or in more brief poetic phrases using strong imagery to process what you were experiencing. In a later post I'll be sharing my thoughts on writing therapy and using poetry to process emotion.
Everybody’s healing journey is as unique as they are. Taking the first step is often the most difficult, but will lead to a life of freedom & renewed vision. I’m looking forward to expounding on healing more & more in the coming blog posts. It’s something that is so often brushed to the side, but so incredibly necessary. Together we’ll explore new, creative ways to approach the healing journey & get rid of negative beliefs surrounding it. I'm so glad you're joining with me to journey into the beginning of healing.
Peace,
Lo
lauren@laurencrawfordwellness.com
