E100 - Let's celebrate your creativity!
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Speaker: testing. Hello, my creative friend. Welcome back to another episode of Create Today with Beth Buffington. Today we need a little drum roll. I am celebrating episode 100 of Create Today with Beth Buffington. Can you believe it? 100 episodes.
That means 100 conversations about creativity, about why creativity matters, what it heals, and how creativity makes us happier and healthier in heart, mind, body, and soul. And whether you have been with me since episode one, or you've just discovered Create Today. Today, I want to say thank you. Thank you for showing up.[00:01:00]
Thank you for believing that creativity is not something that only a few of the most talented artistic people get to do, but that creativity is a way that all people should live. Even those people who say, I'm no artist because after 100 episodes, I believe this more than ever. Creativity isn't a luxury.
It's a lifeline. It is how we heal. Creativity is how we hope. It's how we make the world better. One brave, imperfect act of making anything today.
now I wanna start our episode today with a little story and something that I found [00:02:00] inspirational. So the other day I was in my exercise room biking, and I was watching YouTube like I do. And this time I had found a Ted talk that I was interested in. It was a Ted Talk by Amy McNee and the title of her TED Talk was The Case for Making Art When the World Is On Fire.
so while I was upstairs on my stationary bike, listening to Amy McNee talk about creativity and why it's important, she said something that I shouted out loud. Yes, so loud. Raspberry came running into the exercise room with a little puppy expression that said, are you okay?
Can I do something for you? So after giving Raspberry a scratch on the ear and telling her I was fine, let me tell you what Amy McNee said. [00:03:00] She said, making stuff is the missing pillar of self development and. She is so right. This is what we talk about on the podcast all the time. This is what we've been talking about on the podcast for 100 episodes.
Countless times we've talked about the important list of health must haves. Because you know, doctors will tell you the importance of having good fitness, nutrition, and enough sleep, to become happier and healthier in heart, mind, body, and soul.
If the pillars. For being happier and healthier are fitness, nutrition, and sleep. We need to add another pillar to these must-haves of good health, and [00:04:00] I truly believe that creativity is a very powerful self-care that we must have, but that most of us overlook or we know of its importance, but we don't make it a priority.
You see, when you are in the acts of creativity, in the act of making a doodle a meal, a melody, you are not just scribbling with pens or markers or mixing ingredients
or writing words on a piece of paper. You are shaping your very self. And, or maybe, but here's where creativity falls through the proverbial cracks. We realize we should be creative, but it feels guilty. We always feel like there are more important things to do, Like Amy McNee [00:05:00] said, the world is on fire.
Your family, your job friends, your home, your parents, your to-do list, your responsibilities as an adult. Well, that's what makes the world feel like it is always on fire. Politics, world events, climate, health, extreme weather. We feel like everything's on fire. These things make you feel like knitting or drawing or writing, painting, making poetry, quilting, gardening, raising chickens.
Well, it doesn't feel like something that is that important. Life makes us feel like doing creativity. It's something that should only be done when every other loud thing in our life is done, solved, and fixed. If you look at your creativity as a source of your health and your [00:06:00] happiness, if you look at it as one of those pillars, good nutrition, exercise, getting enough sleep, if you look at it as one of those pillars of health and happiness, you'll see that doing your creativity will make you more resilient and make you stronger.
And make you more capable of facing the needy firestorm that life often presents to us daily. When you give yourself that grace to make, even for just 20 minutes a day, you become happier, calmer, and more resilient. And science confirms this. When you are in creative flow, it lowers cortisol, which is that stress hormone that we all worry about so much.
And when you are in creative flow, that lights [00:07:00] up that prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that is responsible for focus and empathy and emotional regulation. Creativity literally rewires us for wellbeing, and you need that.
Now before we go deeper and we will, I want to take a moment to talk about our sponsor for today. Today's Create Today is sponsored today. Sessions now. This is new. Something new that I am doing with my dear friend Lisa Murphy, who is a health coach who helps people cope with life in whatever season they are walking in today.
and Sylva Sessions is our new, twice monthly creative [00:08:00] renewal experience that is born from our Silva Solace retreat this fall. So it's led by me and my friend Lisa. And it provides better wellbeing by nourishing you with our three Cs core care, which is better care of your physical self creative care, which is better understanding of your physical self through exploration of your innate creativity.
'cause we're all creative. And through the third C, which is community. You know when you are in a good community that encourages and supports you through understanding and empathy and celebration, well, you're just a better person. So these sessions include guided reflection, creative exploration, and this community support that will [00:09:00] help keep your creative flame alive, strong, and resilient throughout the year.
So if this episode is reminding you that you need to make space for your art, for your creativity because it is important for your health and your wellbeing,
Sylva Sessions is just what you need. And you can join us anytime by visiting www.bdicreate.today/silva Sessions. Silva is spelled S-Y-L-V-A, my friend. You need to say yes to your creative care
Now I want you to know that it is super important as we [00:10:00] celebrate this 100th episode of Create Today that I celebrate what is most important about this podcast and that my friend is you, my beautiful listener.
You are the treasure, the maker, the dreamer, the person who keeps showing up for their creativity. Even when life feels busy, heavy or loud. And my wish for you today is we blow out the hundred candles on this Create today 100th episode, celebration cake. Let's just pretend we have one because you guys, I love cake.
So if I were with you today, I would be bringing you a big cake with a hundred candles. And my wish for you as we would blow out these candles together, my wish would be that you fully realize that you [00:11:00] deserve the grace to create. Now, we hear the phrase give yourself grace all the time, but let's pause for a minute and consider what giving yourself grace really means, and how can you apply that in your life.
Grace, my friend, looks like giving yourself permission, allowing yourself to do the important things. Grace is giving yourself time and grace is not only giving yourself time, but allowing yourself full enjoyment during the time that you are allowing with no guilt, no guilt thinking, Ooh. I'm doing this, but I should be doing other things.
Grace, during creative time is also not judging yourself. Grace does not say [00:12:00] that what you're making is not good or could be better, or isn't relevant, or isn't trending or shouldn't be shown in public. Grace also allows you to pick up the paintbrush when the dishes aren't done. To sit at the piano when the laundry still needs folding to knit.
When you feel angry or when you think someone is angry with you, grace allows you to create something, anything, even when the world feels like it's on fire, because making something right now that isn't indulgent, it is important. It is vital to your wellbeing. When we give ourselves grace to create, we find that the doing of whatever you are [00:13:00] creating becomes medicine.
It's quietly healing you. Creativity will calm your mind. Creativity will regulate your nervous system. Creativity can make you feel lighter. And when your mind is calmer and your nervous system is running smoother, you feel better. And when you feel better, you love better. You listen better to the people that need you.
So as a result, you live better. All because you gave yourself time to play and experiment with whatever you love to do creatively. And that's how creativity changes the world. One calmer kinder, more connected person at a time. So let's take a beat for just a second.
I [00:14:00] think if everyone took time to be creative, think about the change we could see in the world that you can't make everyone be creative all of a sudden, but my friend, you can give yourself the permission to be creative and let's imagine what can happen when just one person gives themselves the grace to be creative.
Isn't that one person, is it you? Imagine the ripple, like the toes of a butterfly touching a lake. It starts quietly. Maybe it's you painting or crocheting writing a poem, stirring up a new soup recipe with your own unique flair. You see these small acts of creation. They don't just shift your mood, they change your chemistry.
Your brain releases dopamine and serotonin, the same neurotransmitters that [00:15:00] lift your mood and strengthen your empathy. That means your creativity literally makes you more patient, more loving, and more present. So if your relationships feel tense right now, if your spirit feels stretched really thin, the creative solution might just be, should be to make something
Do some scrapbooking hum. A song Sing in the shower, doodle on a napkin color with your kids. But my friend, come home to creativity When you are stronger, more patient, more loving, more present, it makes those around you less defensive. And the ripples that are started will they begin to fan out across the world.
like the ripples [00:16:00] of a butterfly's toes touching a lake. I yesterday as I exercised on my bike and listened to Amy McNees Ted Talk about creativity. She also said, your art is the antidote to someone else's pain, yet you are keeping it to yourself. And again, I shouted yes, because this is what all 100 episodes of Create Today have been saying.
Creativity is what the world needs and the world needs the message your creative voice wants to share. Someone somewhere needs to read your poem. Someone needs your painting or the photo you've taken. Someone needs vegetables from your garden. They need to read your story.
They need to listen to your song. When you give yourself time to be creative, you are [00:17:00] not being selfish, you are being generous. You've made a piece of creative goodness that someone somewhere needs to find. So let's stop questioning if our creativity matters, because it does. It really does, because creativity isn't a separate space from what will help the world to heal.
Creativity is how the world will heal. And my friend, if you're thinking, eh, Beth, I'll create something as soon as I find out what I'm good at,
Please don't wait to be perfect. The world doesn't need flawless art. There's enough ai. Weirdness out there that considers itself to be flawless, perfectly symmetrical, and weirdly in the same color palette. Ugh, we don't need that. We need your honest, [00:18:00] human, messy, beautiful art. You only need to really enjoy what you're creating.
You do not need to be great at it. You don't even need to be good at what you create. This can be a painting whose colors turned to mud. After you've experimented with blending a little too much, It can be a song. You haven't quite figured out how to finish, or that garden that just grew wild.
It can be a quilt with patches that don't quite meet correctly in the corners or maybe has uneven stitches. It can be knots in your knitting. It can be a wonky blanket that you've crocheted. It can be cookies that were maybe a little bit burnt or a little too gooey. All these creative experiences will give you inspiration to keep at it, to try again and have fun figuring out creative solutions or just have fun in the doing.
And the doing [00:19:00] again and again. Because the enjoyment of the act of actually making the whatever you are creating, well, that's. The treasure perfection is actually not that inspiring, but discovering creative solutions from past experiences is inspiring. That's when those new recipes are created. That's when you realize you've painted something abstract that you didn't even know was in your head.
That's when you figure out the ending of your song as you were singing in the shower. That's creative. Aha moments that will happen when you allow yourself to create today. So. Start today. Sing in your shower. Play with your pens and your markers, your paints and your paper. Plant that avocado [00:20:00] seed and see what grows.
Because every tiny little creative act is time to exhale and enjoy a little bliss. So today as we celebrate together the 100th episode of Create Today. I want you to remember this. Remember to give yourself grace to create because you, my creative friend, are part of something bigger. When you allow yourself time to create, you become part of a quiet, powerful movement of creatives who are choosing today to respond to a noisy world with color.
Compassion and courage. When we understand that creativity is as important as good exercise, nutrition, and sleep, we can then realize that being [00:21:00] creative, well, it is how we survive in this world. That seems like it's on fire every day, Then when we allow ourselves the consistency to be creative and remain creative, creativity allows for even more than mere survival.
Being creative will then become how we shine and when we shine, we shed light into a dark world that needs the encouragement of the shiny brilliance that we create. That doesn't come from the addiction of a phone screen or gambling, or influencers, or social media or video games. It comes from the brilliance of our creativity.
So as we begin the next hundred [00:22:00] episodes of Create Today with Beth Buffington, let's keep making. Someone out there needs. Whatever your creativity is making today, give yourself the grace to reach a world that needs what your creative voice is saying.
Because the world does need what you're saying and because you need to share what your creative voice is saying.
Thank you, my creative friend for being part of this incredible 100 episode journey, and please stay with me for the next 100 episodes and then we'll celebrate that new milestone.
Can you imagine what our world might be like in a hundred episodes if we all create today? And if this episode stirred [00:23:00] something in you, share it with a friend or a family member who might need a reminder that their creativity matters and that they need to give themselves grace. Today and remember, the world truly does need your art, so it's incredibly important that you stay creative, my friend.
