A painting a day....
Yes..you read right!
A painting a day, or some other act of creativity, keeps the doctor away!
Have you ever experienced this phenomenon?
You feel really low, perhaps because you suffer from a cold or pain and you start a creative project which really fascinates you and suddenly you have forgotten all your pain and even feel positive and euphoric
.
It's not a miracle!
Many of the physical and mental benefits of of creativity involve being in flow,
psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s term for that state we get into when we are so engaged in a creative task that our sense of time disappears and we temporarily forget ourselves and our “internal chaos.”
We forget about our bodies and our unhelpful thoughts disappear for a while. Some people achieve that mental state when they’re swimming or running, but even the repetitive motion involved in a task like knitting can help regulate strong emotions and calm your nervous system.
How does that work????
Scientific studies tell us that art heals by changing a person’s physiology and attitude.
The body’s physiology changes from one of stress to one of deep relaxation, from one of fear to one of creativity and inspiration.
Art and music can put a person in a different brain wave pattern, art and music affect a person’s autonomic nervous system, their hormonal balance and their brain neurotransmitters.
Art and music affect every cell in the body instantly to create a healing physiology that changes the immune system and blood flow to all the organs.
Art and Music also immediately change a person’s perceptions of their world.
They change attitude, emotional state, and pain perception.
They create hope and positivity and they help people cope with difficulties.
They transform a person’s outlook and way of being in the world.
Here is an interesting short documentation from the BBC about the subject
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21579762
But expressing yourself through art, or rather say a creative medium, can be a huge help in psychotherapy, specially with children, who sometimes can't put their experiences in words or with people who suffered severe trauma and can't speak about the 'unspeakable'.
Some of the most extraordinary and unfortunately disturbing experiences can not be shared through verbal communication, but sometimes through painting or any other creative medias.
But back to artwork, I believe every piece of art contains elements of the artists personality, his life, his experience, his beliefs ect, at least I know my work does.
What do you think? If you are an artist, can you see yourself in your work?
If you like art, do you feel you can see the artist in his work?
Let me know!!
I hope this was interesting!!
