(Grab your Google; there are going to be some vocabulary challenges here.)

By JaeSage (Trauma and grief specialist by day, creative polymath by night)

If I were to write my autobiography, it would probably start something like this: Bubbling over with delight at having survived over seven decades of extreme weather, parental shenanigans that would nowadays be considered child abuse, a half-century (so far) marriage to a challenging personality, a severely crippling childhood auto accident, and the vagaries of extremist religion and politics, I realized survival was all due to my creatively gregarious way of living life with gusto.

I wholly believe nature had a hand in this; however, it was nurture—mainly through keen observation and precocious participation in living—that moved me through what life was throwing at me.

“Overly positivistic!” you may say.

“Healthily optimistic,” I say. After all, according to Martin Seligman, Michael Scheier, and Charles Carver, “Optimism is often dismissed as just ‘thinking happy thoughts,’ but it is more accurately described as a cognitive framework for interpreting the world. At its core, it is the persistent expectation that favorable outcomes are likely to occur and the belief that setbacks are temporary, specific, and manageable.”

The glass is not half full of water, but entirely full! After all, air is as elemental as water. When life hands you a quandary, make lavender lemonade.

In his book Peace Is Every Breath, Thich Nhat Hanh said that we can wake up and declare to ourselves that we have “twenty-four brand-new hours” to live our life afresh each day.

Future Focus

So much to look forward to! So much to dread, too! The optimistic creator notices that however horrendous a day may be, there is always something to actively engage in or to be thankful for. Did you get out of bed today? Did you observe someone’s smile? Did that coffee or tea smell fragrant? Was it a beautiful day to take a walk and maybe make some sketches? Was it a lousy weather day that was perfect for staying in and writing in your journal, or composing a poem or a story?

Action Plan

How can you bring a little creative, gregarious gusto into your life? Here are but a few suggestions:

1. Help someone learn to read or draw.
2. Notice something truly awesome. (I just looked up from writing this and saw buds popping out on a bare little tree.) Find something awe-inspiring just for the sake of feeling awe.
3. Find an art buddy. Locate someone to whom you can send photos of your art or samples of your writing for mutual support.

There you have it. You may find that you are creating more often than you think when you start sharing, noticing, and doing. Remember, though, that being without productivity can be as creative as doing. Enjoy!