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Have Everything But Still Unhappy? You Might be a Repressed Creative

by Amanda StoneCreativity, Inner Child, InspirationPosted on No Comments

For over a decade I forced myself to deny my heart’s desires and go after career goals and aspirations that had more to do with what other people wanted than what my heart did. I figured, like lots of folks do, if I just check off this list of things (house, job, education, family, etc.) I would be satisfied. But when I got there, I was still unhappy. I had a master’s degree, a full time job helping others in higher education, a custom-built suburban home, a marriage, and a child. I had everything I was told would make me happy, but I was still miserable. Symptoms of my Core Unhappiness I felt ashamed. What was wrong with me that I could have everything and still be unhappy? And when you are unfulfilled, you look for ways to “fill up”… I didn’t know what the real problem was. I just knew I was unhappy. So I drank. First a little. Then a lot. And when the liquor store worker starts to know you by first name…you have a problem. But I didn’t know what the real problem was. I just knew I was unhappy, despite having everything. After hitting my rock bottom in 2017 and nearly throwing myself off a bridge and leaving my 2-year old son and husband behind, I had a change of heart…or well..my heart had a change of me. I had trapped my heart in a prison of other people’s expectations of the “right way” of living. But what could be more wrong than denying your heart its happiness?? Understanding my True Identity as a Creative I remember like it was yesterday. The energy was immense and pink and loving. It hit me like a wave and was so overwhelmingly loving that I broke down and cried, watching as all the shattered pieces of my life were stitched together in a perfect mosaic and I saw the truth. I was creative. A very, very repressed creative. I realized I was an artist (and always had been) who was pretending to be something I wasn’t. I had trapped my heart in a prison of other people’s expectations of the “right way” of living. But what could be more wrong than denying your heart its happiness?? Thus, my creative and spiritual awakening journey began, exploding in a swirl of writing and painting combined with meditation and journaling, as all manner of authentic self expression unleashed. I didn’t realize how much repressed creativity and suppressed emotions lived in me, stemming all the way back from childhood, that just wanted to be seen and heard. The more I expressed creatively the lighter I started to feel, like layers of heavy blankets being pulled off my spirit.  Shortly thereafter, Awakened Creators was born in my mission to help others find the joy within that I did. I was tired of seeing creative souls suffering in jobs they hated, doing what they were told would make them happy (like I was) and being miserable day in and day out. I had broke free from my own prison and I was ready to help others do the same. Choosing to Live a Creative Life Instead Five years later, I am officially done with my unfulfilling 9-5 job and traveling the world full-time with my family, all while serving the creative community I love through Awakened Creators and expressing my own creativity through my writing and painting. I never thought I could be this happy! And don’t think I had some formulaic plan or strategy. In no way did I imagine things happening like they have. The Universe is so much more intelligent than I. All I knew was that creative expression was the answer and honoring it (despite how scared I was to follow my creative passion) has freed me to pursue the life of my dreams. Not to mention…doing a TON of inner work so I could do the outer work I loved. I share this raw truth about my past battle with addiction and suicide because it all led me to this moment. A moment my heart has waited all my life to feel again. Freedom. Joy. Purpose. And I believe you can make the shift as well, even if you are just at the beginning of your journey. So if you are told you have everything, but you are still unhappy, consider that you might be a repressed creative and let’s open the doorway to your heART.  You are in the right place I promise. Welcome home, Awakened Creator.

10 Creativity Prompts to Help You Take Creative Risks

by Amanda StoneCreativity, Inspiration, Journal PromptsPosted on No Comments

When we feel safe and protected, we are able to move beyond our comfort zones (whether by force or voluntarily) and still feel that we are okay. In human development, this is known as “secure attachment” and the effect of its presence or absence in our childhoods extends far into our adult lives.  If we have experiences in life that failed to affirm our need for security, we can develop a maladaptive sense of attachment that I will call the “Dis-Comfort Zone”, because even though we are aware of its dysfunction and misalignment, it soon becomes all we know. The consequences of living in our “Dis-Comfort Zone” can affect our ability to express our creativity, have healthy relationships, and balance our emotional state.  Fortunately, we can consciously make choices that foster a level of security within our current lives that will allow us to take creative risks without fear. These creative risks will benefit our continued growth and healing, sending a ripple of positive transformation through our lives. If you struggle at all with feeling safe enough to step outside your “Dis-Comfort Zone” use these Ten Creativity Prompts to Help You Take Creative Risks and foster a new sense of secure attachment within yourself. Reflect on your creation afterwards using the journal prompts provided.  Write Write about a time you felt the most secure Write about an imaginary place that feels incredibly safe Write about a character finding comfort in something (or someone) Move Dance in a way that emphasizes your feet, legs, or bottom (aka your root chakra) Create a musical piece that inspires a feeling of being comforted or held Sing a song (or create your own) that reminds you of home or another place you feel most loved Make Create a self-portrait that evokes a feeling of security Craft something that brings you comfort (e.g, a stuffed animal, a scarf, a food dish) Snap a series of photographs that speak to a sense of home or feeling rooted Open-ended WRITE, MOVE, or MAKE something inspired by one or more of the following words: Safe Secure Home Comfort Rooted Loved Held Protected JOURNAL REFLECTION  Now journal about what you created and why. What did you end up creating? Why do you think this was your interpretation of the creativity prompt? Is there a memory associated with your creation? If so, what about that memory relates to the idea of feeling safe? How can you evoke a greater sense of security and comfort in your daily experience? Are you ready to awaken the creator in you? If you want more support, consider joining the Awakened Creators Tribe on Instagram or YouTube for more inspiring content designed to bring you closer to your most creative self. 

5 Signs You’re a Repressed Creative

by Amanda StoneCreativity, Inner Child, VideosPosted on No Comments

Are you unsatisfied with life, even though on paper everything seems like it should be fine? Does it feel like no matter what you do or try, you never seem to find that ever elusive fulfillment that you are seeking deep within? If so, you might be a repressed creative. Check in with the 5 Signs You’re a Repressed Creative outlined below and then catch my 3 solutions you can use to awaken the creator within. How do we become “repressed creatives”? Creativity comes in many forms and often times when we are younger we are more tapped into that source of creative flow, but as we age, practical things like education, bills, mortgages, and jobs take over our lives. Even if we are happy for the most part with what we have around us, we can still feel that odd pull within that somehow we are not doing what we are supposed to be doing. You may have a lot of obligations in your life that you feel keep you from expressing your desires, emotions, or dreams. It may be obligations you chose but might be ones that were given to you, or passed on through family traditions. Usually, through our lives we reach a point where we stuff the creative parts of us away, deem them unnecessary or frivolous and begin a journey into practicality and “realistic” thinking. While it may bring us financial or physical prosperity, the repressed creative will still feel unsatisfied with this abundance because it does nothing to feed its soul. Look through the following signs to see if you resonate with being a repressed creative and learn 3 ways you can unblock your creativity today and start feeling better. Sign #1 – You Were Talented/Gifted As a Child Children are naturally tuned into their creative joy and generally, adults do not steer them toward more “practical” pursuits until later in life (though there’s always an exception to the rule). As a younger person, you may have been in a special program based on your innate talents. Or perhaps you were told how creative, artistic, or unique you were growing up. Maybe you even played an instrument, wrote songs, sang, painted, wrote stories, or made short films. Fast forward to today and any trace of that part of you is all but forgotten. You may still have some memories of it lying around in a dusty box somewhere, but for the most part your life hardly resembles that of an artist, writer, filmmaker, or creative person. Which is part of the reason why… Sign #2 – You Deeply Admire Great Creators Even if you don’t create currently, you find yourself admiring highly creative people. Perhaps there is a particular screenwriter or film director whose movies you’ve watched dozens of times. Maybe there’s a musical artist that you never get tired of and you listen in awe at how deep the lyrics are or how innovate the beat is. Perhaps there is an artist whose work you would love to one day own a piece of, or an author whose written “voice” instantly transports you to another world. My father once told me, “greatness recognizes greatness.” And I firmly believe that you resonate on such a deep level with those you admire because you in fact have a similar innate talent and ability to create amazing things. You resonate on such a deep level with those you admire because you in fact have a similar innate talent and ability to create. But you don’t create. Instead… Sign #3 – You Binge Watch Creative Competition Shows You could (and perhaps do) spend hours watching creative competition shows like: Face Off, Skin Wars, Master Chef, Project Runway. If there are creative people expressing themselves, you are tuned in and curious. Your interest in these types of shows is primarily because of the same reason mentioned in Sign #2 and that is that you recognize a part of your own desires in them. Basically, when you are watching, you are living vicariously through these people. As you watch, you may start to imagine what you would create or design but quickly negate the idea with negative self-talk or other reasons why you aren’t as capable or able to accomplish such things. Which is the kind of thinking that shows… Sign #4 – You’re Secretly Jealous of Creative People Although you admire creative folks, you may find your mind turning negative and saying things like: “I could do a better job.” “I’d love to give up my job and paint full time but everyone knows that’s impossible.” “She’s only big now because she knows so-and-so.” Take it for what you will, but these negative thoughts are all limiting beliefs we have imposed on ourselves. They are lies the Ego tells us to keep us small and protected. Branching out would require us to risk getting hurt, failing, or being rejected and we are far too fragile for that right now. So instead, we watch with envy and prevent ourselves from seeing ourselves as fully capable of achieving the same success. Which is why… Sign #5 – No Level of Achievement Satisfies You This is a HUGE red flag. You may be highly accomplished in your education, career, or domestic life. On paper everything looks fine, but something deep inside you just doesn’t find fulfillment in it all. You may even feel guilty for feeling this way. I know I did. This subconscious dissatisfaction can start to manifest as addiction issues with shopping, alcohol, food, even sex and TV. You might find yourself doing everything you can to stuff down these feelings because you don’t feel like you have a way to solve them. So what can you do about it? Assuming you’ve read down this far and can see yourself clearly in the signs described above, I imagine you want to do something about this. “So I’m a repressed creative, now what?” Well, there are a couple of …

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Permission Granted | Embodying your Creative Truth

by Amanda StoneChanneled Messages, Inspiration, SpiritualityPosted on No Comments

It is easy to say one thing and do another. We’ve all heard that talk is cheap. What isn’t cheap, however, is permission. And I’m not talking about the “permission” you grant every app you download on your phone to have access to your personal data (which you should maybe ask yourself about that BTW). No, I’m talking about the permission we grant ourselves, to be…ourselves. It is easy to tell your loved ones, and anyone else you encounter to “be yourself,” “do you,” and “follow your heart.” But how often do we give ourselves that permission, without condition? Too often we say, “be yourself” to a friend, but for ourselves we mean, “be yourself only if it will gain you approval or bring you recognition from the external.” Or we’ll shout, “do you” to an eccentric stranger, but to ourselves we mean, “you better do what they expect you to do or else you’ll be left alone in the dust, forgotten and abandoned.” Like the fairy godmothers to our loved ones we’ll whisper, “follow your heart,” but to ourselves we mean, “if you think heart following is going to pay the bills you’ve got another thing coming.” Why do we give everyone else permission, except ourselves? To speak truth, you must EMBODY truth. To speak truth, you must EMBODY truth. You must LIVE that truth, every day, even if it means relationships slip away or people look at your confused because they don’t understand. Until you can step into your own words, they are without value and without conviction. The next time you tell someone something encouraging, consider whether or not you truly believe and embody that in your own life. So, the next time you tell someone something encouraging, consider whether or not you truly believe and embody that in your own life and if not…thank you Universe for pointing out the part of yourself that needs a little more love and get to work. The time is now to live your truth. The world needs you. Just as you are.