Can Creativity Ease our Anxiety around Time?

Have you found that being deeply immersed in a creative pursuit changes your relationship to time? For me it seems to slow it down and allow me to breathe more deeply. My nervous system seems to calm down and I am now off the productivity wheel and into my process mode, in the present moment (akin to meditation)

Our Relationship to Time

I have been thinking a LOT about the passing of time. Why does it seem that the older you get, the faster time seems to go?? "Anxieties about time’s passing are not exactly unique to modern life. In around 29 BC, the Roman poet Virgil, wrote “fugit inreparabile tempus” – “time flies irretrievably” – which expresses some anxiety at the passing of the days." Says Oliver Burkeman in his fantastic book "Four Thousand Weeks".

Burkeman describes the drive for efficiency and productivity as a kind of “trap”, since you never truly escape the feeling that you should be doing more.

He compares common time-management techniques to the addition of lanes on the motorway. “They’re meant to ease congestion, but they only attract more cars.”

So how do we get out of this "continuous “fight” against time?

Art and Wellness Re-treat

The concept of retreat stems from the need to pull back. The idea of “withdrawing” from everyday life to focus on a particular activity. I also like to think of the word as a gift to oneself to re-treat. Only through retreat can we stop the rush of everyday life and take the personal time necessary to recharge and go back to the everyday workplace with renewed energy and ideas.

In my earlier BLOG I spoke about the origins of retreating.

Do you need to be an artist to create art?

This is why The Art Process Method is so successful. It encourages and exercises that creative muscle, taking the self criticism out of the picture (a sure way to deaden creativity!) By incorporating meditation and self inquiry into the creative process, it opens the doorways to your unique vision and self expression!