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Michele Paiva reveals why creative people are truly sexy.
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Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian psychologist, created the concept of “Flow”, which is highly sexy, because you can’t be your best if you are wound up.
To be in “Flow”, you have to be in a highly focused state, a psychological state that is often attributed to creativity. To be in “Flow” means you are stress-free.
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The link between creativity, wellness and sexuality
Creativity helps depression and anxiety by helping you to get to your truth; and your truth is that you are a sexual human. It doesn’t mean you are looking for sex or focused on sex; just that your true self is not riddled with self-sabotaging limits. Most sexual dysfunction that men (and women) experience, is actually from either depression, anxiety or a combination of the two.
Our dopamine, oxytocin, and other “happy and trust” chemicals lose their luster; they plummet which in turn takes a toll on our bodies and minds.
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Fractal geometry is pure math, but to look at fractal art, it’s pure wonder. When we see that creativity is around us, and it is the language of nature, we are closer to nature then, when we can honor this expression.
Anxiety is a jolt or chronic level of apprehension or even fear; this can create symptoms that are troublesome, such as physical (loss of erection), psychological (feeling bad about oneself) and even cognitive (over-analyzing). Depression is a sense of despair, of hopelessness.
With both, our dopamine, oxytocin and other “happy and trust” chemicals lose their luster; they plummet which in turn takes a toll on our bodies and minds.
Take sexuality out of the equation, and you have distress, potential health hazards and as we know, stress is the #1 killer of men.
Thoughts on creativity and wellness
Dan Stabb, of Better than Bacon Improv says this about creativity.
“Improv grounds me, because it’s all about being in the moment. Humor has always been my way of handling stress or tragedy. So when I am onstage performing, I can absolutely forget about everything “real” that happened during my day and lose myself in the moment. It’s a double-blessing, because I in turn get to share my gift of humor with others. When an audience members tells me after a show, “I forgot about my problems for an hour-and-a-half,” there is no more fulfilling feedback I could get as a performer.”
For many men, the radical notion of expression has been a society taboo. By and large, men are heralded for expressing anger, but not much else. There are emotions, including joy and elation, that men can help work through, cathartically, through their creativity, which is incredibly healthy for their entire being.
Kevin Henry, Musician, of Minerva affirms,
“Music gives me an outlet to express frustration, anger, depression, happiness, joy, etc. it also gives me a medium to work through whatever tension/stress I may have. Finally it gives me a means to “get out of my head”, to take me away and the-energize my soul/heart/mental well being.”
Henry also added that music to him, felt akin to perhaps, the feeling that some get while experiencing yoga.
Does one need to be on a stage to get the benefit of creativity? Not at all. Look what happens for Peter Francis Pattaglia, in the kitchen.
Nothing clears my head, lets me focus away from any stressful happenings in my life like cooking. And by cooking I mean the creation of a recipe idea, the careful research I’m doing internally to perfect something old or new..and then hitting the stores and markets to get everything, or using what’s in the pantry, then hitting the stove and oven..it’s my altar. No matter what is happening around me that is causing me stress, cooking gives me a creative respite from the hot mess that is stress… I’m totally focused on the end result and then the joy of feeding to anyone who I can…especially my family. It’s my happy spot…the stress is gone until I put the last dish away, but now it doesn’t seem as bad. I am recharged. I can handle it now positively. I extend this stress release to my food sites on FB and my blog…a good blog night is very therapeutic as are posting pix and describing foods and travels…total stress release!
Nick Serratore, a popular fine artist shocked me. He is a professional artist and his art is his business. For him, it’s not art that relieves his stress!
“Actually, for me, art doesn’t relieve my stress. This is a full-time job and like all jobs there is a fare amount of stress. Work is work no matter what the job. The biggest stress factor is not knowing when you’re going to sell and make money. You can’t be creative 24/7. I find solace and relaxation from working in the yard. Physical work. I also enjoy cooking.”
The urge to create is within each of us
Although the creatives tend to be singled out by experiencing more anxiety and depression, the idea that being creative creates anxiety or depression is absurd. The reality is, that Darwin, though to be the evolutionary expert, had theories that the strong survive. In his world, depression (or anxiety) has no place. He also missed the boat on creativity being a strength. Darwin probably needed to pick up a paint brush or sing.
Our minds, when we allow creativity flexibility and a fractal geometry to enter into our worlds, experience stress reduction, and alleviation of depression and anxiety.
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Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, evolutionary expert who was a naturalist, geologist, and biologist. He had a different idea that humans can create, enjoy as well as survive. At first he was mocked for his ideas but now those very ideas are well accepted.
Creativity and mindfulness
The ability to meditate and be mindful takes a certain amount of creativity, to allow the mind to be empty, to have space to be creative and solve problems, to allow a certain level of clarity and focus while accepting what is, while being motivated and rewarded for what will soon be.
All of this comes together like a well-run machine; our minds, when we allow creativity flexibility and a fractal geometry to enter into our worlds, experience stress reduction, and alleviation of depression and anxiety.
It’s normal and very natural that depression has an effect on the creativity. To be creative, the human brain must be in its best conditions. Depression, anxiety and other brain and emotion related diseases are a real antagonist to creativity.