Creative Over-Indulgence

Creativity as a Form of Addiction / Compulsion / Workaholism

By Shelley Klammer

I am a passionate creator but I have to watch my tendency to be too creative. I teach people to unblock creatively as a means to recover a connection to their core, authentic selves. It is sometimes difficult to get started creatively when we have been stuck and crystallized in our defenses for a long time. That is why a small, doable daily practice is a good way to get things moving. I share in my teachings an easy method of touching into authenticity through collage. I was incredibly blocked creatively at one time and I know it to be in such a tight and muffled state. I know what it feels like to live in a confined box. True creativity invites a mode of heightened awareness and is a vivid contrast to the blocked state. Once the creative process begins to flow we can feel inspired beyond belief, and compelled to move into new heights of beauty, power, inspiration and self-knowing.

There is a delicious solitude about creativity where we can forget about all of our everyday concerns and worries and move into passionate, even cathartic states. It is easy to want more of these feelings but we have to make sure we balance creativity with real life. In our culture we glorify excessive productivity and creativity but intense daily creativity by its nature is a self-involved state that excludes a genuine connection to others. I dare say that not many “creatives” are willing to admit that creativity can become over-indulgent. Without knowing it, as a way of avoiding our vulnerability, we can become overly attached to our creativity. We often feel the immediate relief of self-expression and it’s easy to believe we should add more creative practices to the roster to feel even better. There can be a point however when we might begin to put too much pressure on ourselves to creatively grow too fast. I have found it is better to go deeply into one or two creative practices rather than do too much at once. That is why I teach creativity in small, regular measures. Learning to do everything in balance is a lesson I am always relearning.

A friend mentioned an article I had written a while back about cleaning my studio and witnessing the sheer volume of my creative work. Somehow I did not view my prolific output it as a worthy accomplishment. My multitudes of half-finished journals and forgotten practices looked abandoned on the shelf. I have tried sticking to too many creative projects over the years. I also felt buried in unfinished canvases and I wondered why I work so hard at creating so many different things. I felt overwhelmed rather than proud of my creative efforts. I wondered, "What is all this for?"

Reaching for the higher states of creativity can become compulsive if we are not careful to attend to all areas of our life with balance and aware attention. I have learned that I must learn to balance the needs and realities of others with my creative needs. My family laughs at my sometimes manic, multifaceted creativity with a good measure frustration. For example, I love to cook soups and extravagant sauces. When I cook, every cupboard door is opened and spices and chopped vegetables spill over the counter tops and onto the floor. I forget to clean as I go and everyone protests doing the dishes after I cook. As I make soup I also might also be adding bits to my art journal in my adjacent studio or writing a bit on my book on my computer, while the onions sauté. I can then easily continue creating alone with a heightened intensity well on into the night and push past the point of inspiration until I am exhausted.

The true purpose of a creativity practice is to open us up to all of life, not to isolate away from it. Creativity in balance is the joyous force of life itself, but if I let it, creativity can become my preferred high, my energy juice and my saving grace. I know I am over-indulging when I begin to substitute creativity for everything else important: relationships, friendships, sleep, exercise and attentive parenting. Everything that exists around me can pale when I am experiencing heightened creativity. I can forget the more mundane aspects of life. When I am in a heightened creative state I might not bother to brush my hair for a day, or I might postpone paying my bills. I might eat only cheese and crackers, if I remember to eat. I can easily go past my bodily limits and not let myself truly relax and rest.

I was relieved recently to hear a friend confess that she also wonders in the middle of the night, while in the throes of intense creativity, "What am I looking for?" I believe we can tend to want to be saved by creativity; saved from the more depressing feelings that are on the opposite pole of inspiration. I have used creative self-expression to sort myself out and cleanse my emotions but I am still creating in isolation apart from life. We know we are overindulging in creative intensity when we feel lost without it, and begin to get depressed when we take time out to rest and attend to our relationships and to our necessary tasks.

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About the Author | More by Shelley Klammer
Shelley Klammer is a Registered Professional Counselor and an Expressive Art Facilitator. She offers an array of online expressive art courses that explore the melding of art, psychology and spirituality. You can learn more about her work and take a variety of courses at www.expressiveartworkshops.com.

2/6/09