Grief and creativity.

I felt stuck in a grieving space when I lost my dog, Stella. She was my sidekick and always by my side. She came from gruesome circumstances so I wanted to give her the best life. Justice is one of my top values and I felt she has been through some significant injustice. She was a huge deal to me. 

It's okay to feel stuck, sitting in pain and not escaping it. I had to cope with the pain (most of you understand, as you have been grieving something significant too). One way is by surrendering your grief—letting go of your attachment to what didn't happen or what is no more. However, I tried to do art again and tackled an old painting to see if I could channel my grief into something creative. Wow, the below red painting was very ooooeeeeyyyy gooooeeeyyy in a horrible way, lol. It took me several days, sometimes just putting one stroke of paint per day, to move this along to something. The struggle was real, but the relief after I completed this painting was huge. I felt lighter and happier. But the grief is still there and always will be. 

Sometimes when we're grieving something significant, we feel like we can't be innovative anymore because the grief monster has killed off our creative spirit. But this isn't true. Your grief won't kill your creativity; it will just make it hard for you to access. I understand it is a matter of dancing with the grief and continue living for your loved ones. They are free and happy wherever they are, and they want to see that you are happy too.