When Empowerment & Creativity Combine to Change Your World

We get that being empowered means that we can do more with what we have been given in life, and even create more! But what on earth, you might ask, does creativity have to do with living a more empowered day-to-day, successful life? It depends on how you understand what creativity is - how broad it is - how enriching and enlivening it is, and how it interweaves with empowerment. A few "for instances":

• Claiming [empowering] new [creative] outlooks and attitudes that support and lift one's awareness, mood, insight to a different place or a new level
• Trying creative ways to empower one's own self-expression and self-knowledge
• An openness to possibilities [creative mental stance]...to the mystery of the as-yet-unknown...instead of a dispiritingly stagnant mental attitude of been-there-done-that - and the willingness to take new actions [empowered proactivity]

There's so much to learn in this life, and when we think of learning as drudgery, we are short-changing what real learning is: discovery, wonderment, fun, experimentation!

I coached a woman the other day who was nervous about singing at a fund-raising gig for cancer when she is not a professional singer. Even though her vocal instrument is strong and very pleasant, she remained very nervous and unconvinced of her abilities. To say that her confidence was low is an understatement, and yet she is the kind of woman who simply perseveres and tries harder, so she was now not only low on confidence, but very strung-up emotionally and physically. I clearly saw all of those in her energy, her physicality, her face, and how she spoke about herself, as we talked together for a few minutes.

To teach her, in that state of anxiety, how to sing "better" would have simply increased the problem. I knew that what she needed more than anything was to ease up, to come back into balance, to let herself be herself. But telling someone who is tightened up, to let go? Forget about it.  Empowerment for her was not going to be something that made her even more tense!

This is where creativity comes into play. Creatively opting for the most important aspect to address: she is not a professional singer, so her reputation was not at stake. What she needed was to do something that would take her beyond the fear and anxiety, and in this case, it was silliness that was necessary. When you smile, it's just that much harder to hang on to your angst!

So, acting came to the rescue. I took her into just being goofy. Just having fun, and expressing her performance values in an over-the-top fashion, which gave her such relief! The smile returned to her face, and her singing voice became strong and certain! The "latch" on her emotions had come off. Her key to performing well and with joy was to not do it right, to not "let go", but to have fun! With fun comes an automatic letting go; no work required! She was relieved, happy, and no longer fighting herself. She could enjoy what was to come, rather than suffering through it by evaluating whether or not she was "good enough". Whew!

Just one more place where creativity and empowerment meet.

Just one more example of how creativity can release the natural magic of being exactly who we really are.

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Contact Lori at [email protected] for information about public speaking and coaching.