Art is free flowing and enjoyable. Always surprising, always perfect, right? Well, not really. Art can be many things, and sometimes free flowing is the least it can be!

I, like so many others, have been hit by procrastination and writers block many times. For years I was struggling with my creativity and  artistic talents. I couldn’t seem to get the flow going, I kept banging my head against the wall trying to think of something “good enough” to express. I was my own worst critic, and art felt rigid and stale. Everything I created felt regurgitated and more than anything, it felt painful. Needless to say, as I was struggling with my art, I was also struggling with my own demons.

I have been singing and performing since I was very young and started writing music in my teens to “get things out”. I was a real thinker as a teenager, way to mature for my age. On top of this, I was hanging around with people that had NO idea how to support my restless mind, or that could give answers to the big questions swirling around in my head. My family and friends did their best to support me but nothing seemed to satisfy or soothe my troubled mind.

So I started writing songs, pouring my heart out into my music. All the  pain, all the questioning was dumped into my songs and lyrics. And in this way, music became my outlet and my salvation.

I know I’m not alone in using art for expressing pain, not even close. Still to this day, there are people using music and art as their dumping ground for all to see and feel. And sure, there’s been some good music and art coming out of this pain but overall, I think I can safely say that there’s been plenty more goodness coming out of a positive mind than a negative one.

So why is it that us artists seem to have the need to express so much pain into our art?

Why is it that we often honour people that focus on their negative aspects more than on their positive?

Why do we as a society seem to be encouraging pain?

If you’re expecting a really intricate and intelligent answer to these questions right now I’m sorry to disappoint you, I really think it’s pretty simple; The world, in general is focused on more pain than joy.

Our TV channels, News and Newspapers LOVE dwelling on what’s wrong with the world. They thrive on our suffering and know they will get higher ratings if they work on fear-mongering instead of focusing on what’s right with the world. We have gotten used to living in a world that is painted mostly dark, and so, the art follows.

Now, I’m not promoting people hiding their emotions, suppressing their pain and create “happy music”, far from it! Let’s face it, pain is part of life here on the planet and it has a huge role to play in our expansion. I’ll say it clearly: Expressing pain through art is OK, it’s how we execute it that matters.

Art in any form has the ability to influence people immensely and all emotions expressed through it can help both the artist, and the spectator, to reunite with their inner selves. Even negative emotions felt through the arts can assist in the healing process and help us to connect, or reconnect, from deep within in ways we haven’t been able to do in a very long time.

But, leaving your audience, and yourself, in this emotional pain-felt place will offer nothing but more of the same emotions to keep manifesting from within. If we are serious about wanting to make a real impact in peoples lives and in our world, we, as artists, need to offer MORE than just a snapshot of our misery, no matter how tempting it may seem.

We ALL have a choice in what energy we want to birth into the world, whether you consider yourself an artist or not. We all have the ability to decide what we want to focus our energy on and thereby manifest into our future reality. We have an option in how we feel, we don’t need to be slaves to our emotions unless we want to, and we do not need to allow negativity to run our lives. It’s all about focus.

When we make art that promotes transformation and help guide people out of the darkness, our talents are really showing their importance in this world. When our intention is to offer a new view instead of merely a picture of our pain, we create a whole new dimension to our art, and a whole new dimension of ourselves reveals itself too! By consciously aiming to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel every time we create, we are opening up to an endless supply of creativity from within.

I believe that happiness can be discovered in the darkest of times, as long as we remember to switch the light on. When making music and art with this idea in mind, pain and hurt can all of a sudden transform into beauty, depth and profound knowledge. When our goal is to “inspire” instead of “dwell on”, art will flourish and can take you to unimaginable heights!

So, do you feel creatively free flowing? Do you leave your listeners or viewers in the gutter or are you offering them a new way to look at life? Do you allow time to work on yourself and understand the value of your own wellbeing as a creative soul?

I can assure you, making these changes in your approach to creativity is not as hard as it might seam, it’s a matter of focus. I have had to learn all of this by trial and error and it took me a while to really “get it”, but what I’ve learned is invaluable:

“If you want to change anything in your life, or in anyone else’s, you’ve got to focus on the solution, not the problem. You have to choose to nurture yourself and let go of high expectations and ALWAYS put your health before everything else.”

No matter how egotistical this may seem, believe me when I say that in order to be great at anything or to help anyone, we MUST begin with ourselves. Investing in our own wellbeing is ESSENTIAL if we want to be able to create amazing pieces of art or music that stands the test of time.

Your creative juices will be pouring out of you like never before when you really get this and choose to deepen your relationship with yourself, and through that, your artist inside. You will be able to express yourself in ways like never before because you will be connected to the true source of inspiration. Never before will writers block be an obstacle because you will KNOW that the thing stopping you to create is only an illusion of your mind.

If you are interested in going deeper down the rabbit hole and start to really connect with your creative Master from within, please join me at one of the Creativity workshops at the next Embrace Life Live Life Festival. Let’s start a revolution in Transformative Art and Music and Inspire long-lasting positive changes in people’s lives together!

Madelaine Vallin is a Singer/ Songwriter, an Author, a Meditation Facilitator and a Certified Master in MindPT.

MindPT, or Mind Power Technology, is a Personal Trainer for the Mind in the form of an App that literally takes the work out of self-work. Based on the latest findings in Neuroscience and Positive Psychology, this tool is set to revolutionise the self-development world for it’s effective, fast and long-lasting results.

All sessions on the MindPT App are catered for a specific need to help you diffuse old patterns and though habits in that area of your life. Shawn Achor, Bob Proctor and Paul Scheele are just a few teachers and best selling authors using this new self-help tool to assist their clients in creating positive change in peoples lives.

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If you would like to try this new self-development tool for yourself and help end negative self-talk forever, please sign up for Madelaine’s Newsletter and receive a complimentary copy of her session “Mad About Life” on the new MindPT App (valued at $47), by clicking here.

For more information about Madelaine, please visit www.madelainevallin.com