Awakening Your Creativity Through Inner Child Connection

If you're feeling stifled in your creativity or unable to access imagination, I want to share a tip and story with you that helped me unlock my creative energy.

I remember doing a lot of arts and crafts as a child, and how much I loved to bring my imagination to life through drawing, painting, making clothes for my doll, and playing music.

But somewhere along the way, I had lost touch with that part of myself, which feels like it got swallowed up in the process of growing up.

Art used to be my only channel for authentic expression, and until recently, I found myself having very few places where I could really let loose and have fun. In fact, for a long time I felt like something was wrong with me because I couldn't access joy (and is still a work in progress!). I didn't know how to have fun anymore.

All of the perfectionist conditioning had caught up to me and snuffed out any desire to create freely, as I perceived that anything I created would be a means of judgment or reflection of my worth.

So I stopped taking creative risks to preserve my safety as I buckled under the pressure of having to maintain a certain image of myself. And before I knew it, I was operating from the belief that if I couldn't do something right or easily, then I wasn't going to do it at all.

Looking back, the environment that perfectionism (and people pleasing, for that matter) created was definitely unripe condition for creativity to flourish. I was so caught up in doing things according to the rules in my head that I perceived creativity in general as a huge risk. I could no longer trust my creative self and so that fun-loving, playful and artistic part of me became suppressed.

Having fun and being creative are both qualities that arise from the inner child, who is always a part of us no matter our age.

And whether its by perfectionism, or just the heavy burdens of adult life, the imaginative spark that is ever present within us gets buried within us, but never completely dies out.

Since I made the switch over into full time coaching, it feels like all the ways in which I previously existed are being uprooted--including the roots of perfectionism.

And it was one simple phrase from one of my business coach that helped me make a major shift in my creativity, and it was this:

She said: Give yourself permission to get MESSY with things and PLAY.

It was such simple advice, which I had heard before, but the timing of it was truly everything.

I was finally at the point in my life where I was ready to hear that, and follow through.

It was like a light switch went off, and suddenly within a few days, creating in general along with creative expression no longer felt exhausting.

I feel myself opening up to different avenues of expression that would have made the perfectionist in me run for the hills--like this past weekend where I did a DJ training (a dream of mine that I've had since I was a teenager!).

I'm seeing how it's ok to not know where things are going and that there is real joy in that.

I can appreciate the journey without trying to steer it, and the less I resist, the more I feel the divine creative energy pour through me.

So if you're struggling to find your creativity, or needing to have more fun, let yourself know that things don't need to be perfect.

In fact, it's those imperfections that are the most beautiful and celebrated parts of the artistic creative world. And be sure to let your inner child know that their imperfections are exactly what make them so loved, unique and special.