Monday, March 31, 2008

Let Your Creativity Serve You While You Serve Others!

Expressing your creativity is a surefire way to relieve stress.

Have you asked yourself lately, "How am I expressing my creative self?" Do you have people in your life that are encouraging and supporting your creativity? Have you actually made the connection that using your creative side is an excellent way to battle nursing stress?

For me, adding Creativity to my "How to cope with nursing stress" toolbox has been a very effective weapon.

One of the things you can do to express yourself creatively is blogging. If you love to write and it feels therapeutic to you to get your thoughts out, then you should try it. Ultimately, one of your goals in expressing yourself creatively is to attract like-minded people who "get you" and who value creativity in their lives too!

However, writing is not the only form of creative expression. Of course, there are all the art forms including dancing and singing which are fantastic forms of creativity. There is the whole idea of expressing yourself creatively through your clothing style or with your home decor. Of course, personal style and home decor are ways of communicating your creativity to the world that are quite fulfilling (but sometimes a little expensive)!

Unfortunately, nurses are in danger of shutting off their creative sides because they so often find themselves in survival mode.

If you are a nurse on nights, you probably work three in a row. How creative can you be when you're either working or sleeping for 72 hours straight? If you're on days, you may not be working three in a row but the days in between shifts are filled with hours of "just jelling" in that recovery shutdown state where you're really not doing much of anything. That's not great for creativity either!

One of the gadgets you can use to enhance your creativity is a voice recorder. These can be purchased at any office supply store and are smaller than a cell phone. They're pretty inexpensive and are simple to use.

As I said, I love to write. However, I'm not always able to hop on the computer or jot things down so I have ideas swirling around in my mind. So I simply record them on my handheld recorder. That way I record the thoughts and can act on them at some other time. PRESTO! My creativity is PRESERVED!

Most nurses are born nurturers. Nurturers like to create and grow things. Nurses are not only creative, they usually have great people skills, they're independent, they're smart and they're perceptive.

I find it extremely fulfilling to express myself creatively. All the while, I am truly taking steps to relieve myself of harmful stress and reach for freedom in my life.

In other words, when I'm at work caring for my patients, my creativity is hard at work for me even if it's just to keep me in touch with my dreams. I highly recommend pursuing ANY creative hobby, project or business as a way of taking back control in your life and honoring your creative side.

I support all nurses who have a creative side longing to be expressed!

Question: How do you preserve YOUR creativity? Post your answer as a "Comment" below.

Take Care Of Yourselves Nurses,
Theresa Waller, RN
(714) 293 5398
Call Anytime!

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