Ep 01: The World Needs Your Creativity

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Perfectionist in Recovery

[00:00:02] Hello and welcome to the Perfectionist in Recovery podcast. My name is Marcy Parks and I am a perfectionist in recovery. A major part of my recovery process has been reconnecting with my creative practice. For those of you that know me personally or follow me on Instagram, you know that I am an artist and I primarily paint mixed media abstract pieces. Those are very much my medicine and my way of working through my recovery process. For a long time, my perfectionism would often manifest itself in a lot of unfinished projects.

[00:00:45] Typically, I would have an idea or be inspired to create or do something, but I would either not begin because I didn't believe myself to have the competency or skill level to be up to the task, or shortly after beginning, and usually overcome with anxiety, I would stop the project with an excuse about why I couldn't go further, be it lack of time, lack of space, or because it was Monday, Or all of those things.

[00:01:17] What I now recognize is that this was really just a form of self sabotage due to the unrealistic expectations that I put on myself and a focus on the finished product vs. the creative process. Now, this could be another episode altogether, but much of this has to do with the capitalist structure of our society in America and the focus on productivity and monetization of consumer products.

[00:01:52] And so because of that, we've lost our relationship with creating for the joy of creating.

[00:02:00] So I wanted to start this podcast now more than ever because I believe that having a creative practice is essential to our well-being, not just on the micro level of the individual, but also on the macro level of a society. Especially now on the macro level of society given what we are currently experiencing, and I am Speaking specifically to America, because that is where I am recording from - in Northeast Tennesse in the US.

[00:02:29] If you are paying attention, you already know what is going on here in America specifically with the momentum building behind the Black Lives Matter movement and the attention and spotlight that's being put on systemic racism and white supremacy.

[00:02:51] And I just want to say that if you have the privilege to avoid and to not know what is going on or not know the details around what I'm speaking about, I encourage you to mindfully, and with awareness around your own state of mental health and maybe also with the support of a therapist, tune into the current state of our country and educate yourself on systemic racism and the racial injustices that persist, because now is not the time to be tuning out. The same goes for anybody who is feeling like they're tired of hearing about this. I just really encourage you to question your perspective of privilege and not tune out. That being said, hopefully some of the discourse and the resources shared in this podcast can aid in navigating the outrage and heartbreak surrounding our current events so that we can create a better future for everyone.

[00:04:03] The reason why I think developing a daily creative and inspirational practice is essential and relevant to what we are experiencing here in America is because a lot of our old systems and ideologies are dying out, and if they haven't already, they need to. But in order to let go of these old structures in our lives, we have to be able to conceive new ones, and a creative and inspirational practice is how we do that.

[00:04:42] A creative and inspirational practice is how we train our imaginations to dream up new realities. A creative and inspirational practice is where we confront those self-sabotaging habits of perfectionism, and we dare to take the first steps towards making those dreams a tangible reality. A creative and inspirational practice is where we learn to sit with the discomfort of our mistakes and our missteps and choose to keep moving forward anyway. Creativity is our ability to see beyond what is physically in front of us, it is our ability to adapt and evolve and transform. It is our ability to endure and to be resilient, because creativity tells us that change is possible. And if there was ever a time more creativity was needed and encouraged, it is 2020.

[00:06:00] But creativity is much like a muscle. I often compare it to being like an athlete. Athletes will drill certain techniques in their practice to generate muscle memory. Similarly, we as creative beings have to exercise those same creative muscles and we have to strengthen our creative spirit and our creative resolve. And when I say creative beings, I'm speaking to everyone, not just artists.

[00:06:34] I Love Julia Cameron's work for this reason. Julia Cameron has a series of books on creative recovery, building resiliency, and all these other wonderful things. And in her book, The Artist's Way, she describes humans as innately creative because they are created. Regardless of whatever your religious or spiritual philosophy that you subscribe or don't subscribe to, you were still created in the womb of your mother. So from one cell, you became many cells and from many cells, you became a whole human being. So even now, you are still engaged in this process of transformation. And just as our bodies are continuing to undergo this change, creating new realities physically daily, so should the landscape of our minds that house our opinions, our beliefs, and our dreams. So all that said, I invite you to join me through this podcast to recover your creativity and find inspiration for your next incarnation.

[00:08:07] Going forward, this podcast will occur in a weekly format once a week. I will share either interviews with artists, discussions around creativity, inspiration, and perfectionism, guided meditations to help you find inspiration, and always, I will share actions to take during the week to exercise your creativity.

[00:08:34] That being said, some actionable items that you can go ahead and take, to begin today:.

[00:08:39] First, this one is specifically for my white listeners. If you are white in listening to this, I am asking you to begin to challenge old modes of thought and beliefs that were communicated to you, either overtly or directly, or unconsciously by reading White Fragility by Robin D'Angelo. I'm halfway through this book and will probably finish it in the next few days, and it is already blowing my mind that there is just so much that I've been Ignorant to, and honestly, ignoring, that collectively we just can't anymore - especially if we want to see a better future.

[00:09:35] A second actionable item that everyone can do is to read Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. Julia Cameron has several books all about recovering your creativity, building resiliency and. Yeah, embodying and embracing your inner artist. Again, this book is not just for artists. It's for everybody. It's formatted similar to a workbook. It's a 12 week format. Each week there are journal prompts, weekly assignments or activities to help navigate your inner critic, deconstruct anhy self sabotaging perfectionist habits, and guide you in rediscovering your inspiration and creative spirit. It's a great book. I recommend all of her books, but start with the artist's way. One thing that I will say that might be off putting, depending on what your religious affiliation is. If you are not a Christian, she does mention God a lot in this book, but she does also give you the opportunity to dream up and rewrite what God means to you and who or what your God is. That is, of course, if you choose to have one.

[00:11:03] So those are two things that you can go ahead and get started doing now.

[00:11:09] Otherwise, that's all I have for you today. I appreciate you tuning in and listening to the Perfectionist in Recovery podcast, and I wish you the best as you begin your creative recovery. If you enjoyed this episode, send me a message on Instagram at Marcy Parks Art and let me know if you enjoyed it. Don't forget to subscribe on all of your favorite listening platforms, and if you would rate the podcast! That's the best way that we can help other people to find this this podcast as well and give it a listen. So thank you guys again so much! Check back with me next week. I'll have another episode, another discussion around creativity, what it is, why it's important and why it's worth investing time and attention.

[00:12:06] Until next time!

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