Creativity x Meaningful Work

For many of us, our creativity stems from a deep desire to do things with meaning. We want meaningful lives, we want to share meaningful art, we want to create something that will spark meaning in other people’s lives. Yet sometimes we struggle with how to do this. We also struggle when we create things that don’t do this, say a 9–5 job to pay the bills.

To me, meaningful work will ignite emotion and thought into people. I love to get people thinking in ways they don’t often do. For others, meaningful work is something that makes them feel good, something that makes them feel connected to their talents.

In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown breaks down her research on wholehearted living. Those who she researched that lived a wholehearted life often mentioned that they found or were on a quest to share their gifts and talents. This is what I want to focus on today.

I understand the anguish of doing work that you feel isn’t living up to your potential and making true impact in lives. It makes your whole life feel dull and out of place. We often talk about our callings and live a huge chunk of our lives trying to figure out what that is. Then when we figure it out it is the first thing we think about when we wake up, last when we go to sleep. When we know our calling, it is constantly in our heads antagonizing us.

Although our calling is constantly running in our minds, our problem is that we often do everything we can to shut it up. We think it is selfish to focus our energy on something that satisfies us. Often, our talents and what we enjoy doing do not pay the bills so we push ourselves to think more practically. It takes a lot of block busting and hard work to commit yourself to your calling.

Brené Brown’s research showed that”squandering our gifts brings distress to our lives. As it turns out, it’s not merely benign or ‘too bad’ if we don’t use the gifts that we’ve been given; we pay for it with our emotional and physical well-being. When we don’t use our talents to cultivate meaningful work, we struggle. We feel disconnected and weighed down by feelings of emptiness, frustration, resentment, shame, disappointment, fear and even grief.” (Brené Brown, 2010, p. 112).

While I’m not encouraging anyone to quit their 9–5 on a whim and focus on their passion without a plan (which is exactly what I did and it worked out so I’m also not not telling you to😉), it is vital for creatives to take time out to focus on the work that brings meaning to them.

Get Started

So, let’s take a look at the meaningful work in your life with these small steps to get you thinking and motivated to take action!

Journal Prompts:

Simple free writing questions are a great way to get all of your thoughts out of your head and dumped onto a page. We often have so much clutter in our head that when we cut through it all and get right to the straight forward questions, we come up with answers we didn’t even realize we had! Grab a notebook and answer some or all of the following.

• Describe yourself! What are your values? What do you love? What do you hate? How were you raised?
• What is the gift that you have that you feel guilty not using as often as you think you should?
• What would you do if you could do anything and not fail?
• List and describe your talents.
• What is your favorite book/song/movie/piece of art? Why?
• What is a core belief that society has that you do not feel aligned with?
• What in your life is taking up the most time? Is there a way to cut this time down to work on the things that get you excited?

Meditate:

Take a seat in a comfortable chair, meditation pillow or lay on the ground. Close your eyes, focus on your deep breathing to get in the zone. Then, think about a moment that you were so happy you could cry. Your heart was bursting with pride, passion and excitement. Even if it was just a moment, you felt completely fulfilled.

What was the moment? What about it made you happy? Who was there? What were you doing? How did your body physically feel in this moment?

I suggest free writing about your experience after this meditation.

Space & Time:

Now it is time to dedicate a physical space in your home to this passion. If your work is your passion, that is great! Just use these suggestions for your desk at work.

Studies suggest your environment will greatly impact your creativity. If you love your space, you will be more willing to find the time to go there and do your work.

• Get rid of anything in this space that does not excite you.
• Have a place to hide your phone and any other technology that can distract you!
• Showcase your motivation. Hang art that inspires you, quotes that motivate you, and anything else that will remind you of the importance of your passion.
• Make it cozy if you can! Bring a warm cup of tea or light some candles, anything that will help your mind relax so you can go deep into your work.

Start in your new space with baby steps. Dedicate even 10–30 minutes a week if you do not have much time. It is incredible what even that small amount of time can do for the soul!

Don’t Forget

You are obligated to use the talents you have in this world. They were given to you for a reason. It is your job to look through all of the nonsense we tell ourselves in order to understand what that passion is. It does not need to be a grand gesture, it can be a small step in the right direction.