Your moods and emotions color the way you see the world, yourself, and your future. Negative mood states, such as anxiety, sadness, and anger, are part of the normal ebb and flow of human emotions. They provide a necessary counterpoint to the joyful and happy occasions of life, and they add depth to the “rich tapestry of human experience.” Of course, that doesn’t make them any more pleasant or easy to get through at the time you’re experiencing them.
We have negative moods and emotions, however, for a reason. They are a way of alerting us that all is not right with our world and that we may need to take some sort of action. Rather than trying to escape these negative feelings — with pills, liquor, or thrills of some sort — we are better off exploring them and trying to get at the cause of our distress so that we can meet it head-on.
One excellent way to explore your negative feelings is through creative outlets. Explorations of negative feelings have been the focus of many creative works throughout the centuries. Examples include Emily Dickinson’s famous poem “There’s a Certain Slant of Light,” playwright Eugene O’Neill’s masterpiece Long Day’s Journey into Night, Edvard Munch’s famous Expressionist painting “The Scream,” and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique” ).
You don’t have to be a renowned composer, painter, or playwright to experience the benefits of expressing your emotions creatively. In my new book, Your Creative Brain, I present a number of ways you can transform negative emotion through creative work.
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Calling it “transformation” rather than “defense mechanism” is such a helpful shift in perspective. Creative activity can both express ‘dark’ moods and help defuse them. Eric Maisel, PhD, author of The Van Gogh Blues, notes that meaning aspects of our lives and work are of deep importance in dealing with these moods – for creative people especially. More in my Psych Central post Dealing with Depression to Access Our Creativity
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/creative-mind/2010/08/dealing-with-depression-to-access-our-creativity/
I followed the blue brick road to panic attack. Yep. I know what those are! “The Scream” painting comes to mind.
This is a really good article for creative types to read. I liked how you “normalized” the ego defense mechanism of “sublimation.” That is very helpful because under the hood I’m highly sensitive to the sounds of prejudicial condemnation.
Thank you for this article. I’ve been suffering for months not producing any art and generally feeling depressed. I’ve just started producing again and feel a whole lot better.
I said this as a joke a few days ago but I totally believe it now; “Negativity forces fuel Positive: See Batteries.”
I have used both art and writing as a self-therapy. They have both been extremely helpful in saving my life.
The human race is represented here by the self-absorbed masses. The earth needs to slough off this human layer so it can be healed again. We are a race of parasitic animals, and this madness needs to end. Hopefully December, 2012 will bring the medicine the world needs.