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26 Simple Ways to Nurture Your Creative Life

#22: Vent (Emotional Expression)

When bent, go vent.

By Chris Dunmire

I was livid the day I tore up my revered religious magazines and made throw-away collages out of their fear-inspiring imagery. I had to. The angry energy I was repressing inside my body was destroying my soul.

The long story precipitating this shred-storm would take days to write, and since it’s not relevant to the theme of this article I’ll bypass it and get to the point: When it comes to nurturing our creative lives, we need to move our energy — especially the heavy, emotional kind.

So I say, “When bent, go vent.” Not to your significant other, co-worker, or cat. Do it on the page or canvas. Or on the floor in the studio or gym. Out in your garage or in the basement. Move — express — vomit — that angry, frustrated, hurting energy . . . out.

Vent. Use your favorite physical outlets for creative expression. Paint, stretch, jump, lift. Run, ride, weave. Sing, rhyme, scream. Alchemize the dark energy and turn it into nurturing gold.

I recently finished reading Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman and Put on Your Crown: Life-Changing Moments on the Path to Queendom by Queen Latifah and found common parallels to how we've both used creativity to heal in our lives.

In Writing Through the Pain and The Healing Power of Journaling, I share how creative expression through art and writing has helped me through grief and loss (and how Being Vulnerable Helps Healing). Creativity and compassion are necessary to my my well-being.

In her books, Latifah relates how engaging in her favorite modes of creative expression — songwriting, rapping, and music — helped her get through the grief she felt over losing her older brother Winki in a motorcycle accident, even when doing so was the last thing she wanted to do . . . but contractual obligations made her. She writes in Ladies First:

"I had a contract with Motown to finish an album shortly after the accident, and I just didn't think that I had it in me. So I talked with Winki. And then I found that being around music and listening to the songs that Winki and I shared was therapeutic. Suddenly, my focus shifted. I poured myself into my music. I lived in the studio. Winki helped me write Black Reign. I became obsessed with finishing the album. It had become about survival."

One of the songs on Black Reign is titled "Winki's Theme."

Back to my opening story. . . . After I mixed-media’d an organized religion’s lifelong hold over my creative spirit, I felt lighter . . . liberated. In the process of destroying, I was really creating. And in the explosion of emotional energy I experienced a rebirth of my Self.

What happened to the imperfect, angry collages made from the raw materials of my rage? All that shredded paper, paint, and glue pulled into my venting vortex swirled into the trash before it even had a chance to dry. All of it.

It was process work. The product was only a means to an end. Venting made more than a statement — it alchemized my anger and ended my silence.

• • • Take Action Now! • • •

Got heavy energy? Vent. Move it. Right now. No matter what kind of energy it is: anger, depression, frustration, confusion, ___________ (add yours).

I'll help you: Stand up (wherever you are) and stretch your arms, back, and legs out as far as you can reach for 30 seconds. Now take a long, deep breath in. Hold it for a moment. Then . . . let it out — all of it. One loooong exhale.

Now your head (and heart) should be a little more clear.

Feel better? Good. Answer me this: What's the next small step you can take right now (even just for 15 seconds) to alchemize your energy into gold? •

© 2012 Chris Dunmire, CoachingYourCreativity.com. All rights reserved. (1/16/12)

About the Author
Chris Dunmire is the founder of the award-winning Creativity Portal® Web site and is a Master-in-training Kaizen-Muse™ Creativity Coach who supports clients through overwhelm, procrastination, perfectionism, and other blocks to their creativity AND celebrates the joyful, expressive parts of being . . . an imaginary being! Connect with Chris to experience how creativity coaching can enrich your life.