Creativity Is Not Just A Hobby

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What if the thing you have been told is just a hobby? The knitting, the painting, the writing, the making of things with your hands is actually one of the most powerful healing tools you have. And what if the reason so many of us feel lost, stuck, or little flat is not because we are broken, but because we have been spending all our energy to fix what is wrong with us instead of growing what is already right. And today I'm joined by Brigita, a certified life coach, reiki master, author, and retreat facilitator based in Los Angeles, whose work beautifully weaves together creative expression, healing, and personal growth. She is the author of Crafting a Better Life and co-author of the newly released Landing on Your North Star. Tonight we're talking about creativity as medicine, the quiet power of leaning into your strengths and what it really means to align your life with who you actually are. Brigita, welcome and so glad you are here.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. It's always weird hearing your own bio, too. When people introduce you, it's like, oh yeah, okay. Such a such an experience. So thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to this conversation.

Leaving Acting Without Losing Yourself

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Perfect. So I want to start somewhere personal. Yeah. You started life as a professional actress, starred in a television series in Canada, moved to Los Angeles, built a whole career in that world, and then you walked away from it and built something completely different. Looking back, what do you think that transition was really teaching you?

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Oh, what the transition was teaching me? Yeah, it's an interesting experience of your value system and how you can stay in alignment with your value system and approach it from so many different ways and feel really satisfied. Um, and how staying in alignment with what matters to you is really important at the end of the day. So I loved acting. Um, I started when I was very young, I was a teenager. And at a certain point, my reasons for getting into acting and my reasons for staying with it changed. And I discovered that there were other ways for me to tick the boxes, so to so to speak, um, that didn't require uh an acting career. It was a strange moment when I realized that I love working with people. I love connecting with people. That's one of my core values, is connection, which is why I loved acting. Because when you're acting, if you're when you're doing the work, when you're really acting, you're truly connecting. And you're also connecting to the audience, even if it's on film and TV, you are connecting to people because they're feeling things, hopefully, when they're watching the show. You're creating, you're you're inviting them to experience emotions and be entertained in ways that they just can't do for themselves. That's why we watch TV. That's why we go to the movies to go and experience these different feelings. So all of that was happening with acting. But there are so many other ways to connect with people. And with acting, uh, because I love the work, I really like the actual doing of the connecting with people, even with writing a book, for example, there's a lot of work there. But what but what I really enjoy is the after the book is done, now I get to talk about it and be with people. I get to coach, I get to talk and do retreats, I do things with the people. So that's really my jam. And so with acting, at a certain point, it became uh I wasn't getting as much connection with the people that I really was wanting. And I didn't realize that that's what the problem was. And then at a certain point, it was time for me to walk away because it was all the all the doors were closing, you know, and those are there are times in our lives when clearly our path along that path, that journey has ended, and it's time to choose another path. And that's what was happening, and it was pretty painful. I it was devastating. I thought I had lost my identity. Uh, it was a really hard time for me. However, you know, growth, that's when you're growing often, if you're willing to be open to the growth opportunities around you. And I discovered, oh, the reason the reason I stayed in acting was this connection piece, this other value that I didn't realize. Honestly, I don't even think I realized it existed, or I wouldn't have called it that. I would have, I maybe creative expression, yes, but I think the connection piece became very apparent to me. And then I realized I can do other things and do the work and be engaged and not have to audition and then have someone else grant me the opportunity to do the work that I love. Because ultimately, with acting, you're waiting for someone else to hire you. And then you do the work you love. And now, granted, remember when this was this was also before digital. So the only way to do wanted to do your own work, it was 35 millimeter film. I did produce a short film with a friend of mine. It's a great film. We went to festivals, but it's a it was a very expensive proposition. And I, in filmmaking wasn't really my jam. I enjoyed it, but it just it didn't, it didn't really light me up. Whereas this connection piece did. And so that was a big growth opportunity for me. It was a huge life change for me walking away from acting, something I thought I was gonna do for the rest of my life. Um, however, it set me up really beautifully for pursuing where I am now. So where I am in my life now, uh, this the what I can see is that when you're really in alignment with what matters to you, and that can, and it's gonna be very different for each and every one of us. But when we're in alignment with it, even the quote unquote hard work feels easy. You lose track of the time. You know, you go to bed tired, but you're not wiped out, you're not drained, you're just exhausted because you worked all day and you're really excited about things. You get excited in the morning when you wake up and you're willing to put in the work. And it's a very different feeling. That's that flow feeling or momentum feeling that that's one of the things I coach people with is like, how do we remain in that? How do we align ourselves with that level of energy and creativity so that it's sustainable? It's like it should, it should um just keep regenerating, right? It should fuel itself. What you're doing should fuel you.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Yeah. So it was a big, it was hard. I will not lie. It was a tough transition.

What Creativity As Medicine Means

SPEAKER_01 7:11

So Brigetta, the phrase, the phrase, sorry, creativity as medicine. Yeah. It is one of those ideas that sounds poetic, but we want to understand what you actually mean by it. Because for a lot of people, creativity is something they do after life is handled, you know, a luxury, something they have earned. So, what are we missing when we treat it that way? And how can we start treating it as a medicine?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Beautiful question. I agree with you, and I've fallen victim to this sometimes still that, oh, creativity is a luxury. It's something I'll do at the end of the day. It's it's, you know, get the work done first, and then you do your creativity, um, whatever that is. And then, of course, what happens? You never have time for yourself. That's what happens. It's usually you don't get around to it. So, this notion of having creativity as medicine, it's another way of saying that is creativity is a part of your daily practice of how you realign with yourself. And when I say alignment, it's not like you're aligning with something outside of yourself. It's really truly getting back in touch with what you know to be true with you. So, even any meditation practice that you're doing, whether it's Reiki with me or or with someone else, or a completely different practice, or if you're doing a journaling practice and a creativity practice would fall into this heading as well. You're really stripping away anything that's blocking you from your inner truth. That's really what you're doing. And that to me is a daily practice. And that to me is medicine, because all day long we're we get pulled off course. That's part of being in life. It's a part of being human. We get pulled off course, that's part of the process. But you want to be able to return to this, this, this center, this uh this compass within you when you so that you know you're on track, so that you know you're in alignment. And so the way creativity works, though, which is different than other practices such as prayer or journaling or meditation or even exercise. Some people have an exercise practice that helps them get into alignment, which is beautiful. Creativity is different because creativity taps into our very own life energy at its core, in my opinion, because we are creative by nature. You and I sitting here talking to each other is a creative act. Just learning how to function in this world requires creative thinking. And even more truthfully, we colored before we wrote and we sang before we spoke. We are creative from the get-go. And getting crawling to standing is a creative process. And and speaking, so it is a natural thing for all of us. It doesn't mean you need to be an artist. That's a that's maybe a different conversation, but being creative is a part of that process. The other thing that happens with all of these things that we're talking about is we don't know what to expect. So when you walk into or when you step into a creative practice, you don't know the future. Even if you're doing something like coloring books, which I love coloring books. You can get all these coloring books online now for adults. And I look at the color and I can see the sketch and I'm gonna fill in all the colors, but I don't know what colors I'm gonna put where. I don't know. So there's this little taste of the unknown and a big taste of being present in this moment. And both of those things are required for healing and growth. You need to be present with what's going on and willing to take that risk without being reckless about it. Let's start to get a little comfortable with not knowing and maybe just getting comfortable with what's my first step. What's the next best step for me? And that's all you know. And to me, that's a blueprint for growth. That's a blueprint for any entrepreneurial business. It's a it's a blueprint for starting a new relationship. Uh, anything in your life where you've created a big change, that's how it started. Getting present and getting a little bit comfortable with not knowing what's coming next. And with creative, with creativity, it's a really safe, easy, accessible, cheap. Doesn't you don't have to spend a lot of money. You don't have to go buy all the paints and all the canvases. You can just doodle on a piece of paper with a pen. That counts, you know. And and when you do that, you start to build this muscle of being present and curious about the future at the same time. To me, that's medicine.

The Quiet Grief Of Lost Play

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Wow. That is such an important reframe because I think so many people carry this quiet grief about the creative parts of themselves they put down years ago. The drawing they stopped doing, the music they left behind.

unknown 11:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

And and and what you are saying is that it was not just a hobby they gave up, it was a part of how they processed, healed, and knew themselves.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Yeah. I love that quiet grief that you just said. It is. Because I think there's a certain amount of, I mean, at least from being here in the United States, we we don't value play. We don't value creativity. And so for us to even think that, oh, we kind of have a longing for the days when we used to pull out the guitar and just riff for a little while, that feels kind of like a guilty pleasure. And there is this quiet, as you said, a quiet grief of, but I miss being that person. I miss the person who could just goof off for 15 minutes on the guitar. That sounds like fun to me.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

That is yeah, we miss those days.

unknown 12:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

And they don't have to be big. I think we get caught up in of thinking, well, if I'm going to be creative, I gotta do all these. Um, I've got to do a whole picture today. And meanwhile, again, when I say doodling counts, it really does. You know, just a piece of paper and a pen and goof off for five minutes, just draw some curly cues and just do the thing, and you will feel yourself relax, you will feel yourself getting present, and you will be genuinely happier. So uh it's it's worth trying, and it's in five everyone's got five minutes a day.

Landing On Your North Star

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Your new book is called Landing on Your North Star.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Which is this beautiful metaphor for finding your life's true direction. But I want to ask about the people who feel like they have completely lost sight of this, not just a little up course, like genuinely disconnected from any sense of purpose or pull. So, where do you start with someone like that?

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, that's such a beautiful question. The first thing is to know that you've done nothing wrong. I think it's really important to just be really compassionate with yourself and say, I, you know, own where you're at right now. And that is you're feeling lost and you have no connection to your purpose. And be compassionate with yourself. If someone, if another person came to you and said that, you'd offer them a hug. You would say, you know, well, let's sit down, let's stop what we're doing. This is this this requires my full attention. Um how can I help? Probably, is what you would say in response to that. So that's number one. I think we can be really harsh with ourselves. Also, this society has this idea that we're just supposed to know and just go for it all the time. And that's just not reality. I mean, reality is we're a lot of us have a lot of different things that we're good at that we could pursue. We have people, depending on how old you are, there might be responsibilities that you now have. You've made decisions in your life to get you to where you are. Uh, and those decisions come with a responsibility sometimes. And so it's really important, I think, to just say, okay, here's where I am right now. And it's still possible to find that purpose. It's still possible to actually include the purpose in the life you're living now. You don't necessarily need to change everything. You don't need to leave your house or move to another country or find another relationship or another job. You can actually infuse what you're doing right now with that sense of purpose, with a little bit of work. So, one of the activities in the book, which is my favorite activity, actually, and again, it doesn't cost you anything. You pull out a piece of paper and you jot down about five to ten of your favorite memories of your entire life. And you don't need to write them all out completely because they're your memories. So you remember them. So the examples we give in the book uh for me is my trip to Africa was a favorite memory. Um, I remember having a pizza party with my friend in fourth grade. Um, that's a favorite memory. I remember connecting this uh trip that I took to an island off the coast of British Columbia that I loved. Um, another one was um teaching at a retreat. So there are a few things that I remembered that I was like, I was really lit up. I was so happy. I loved these memories. And you take, and it's this is a really good feeling exercise too. When you do this activity, you feel great because you're remembering all these times when you were really happy. And they can be yesterday, they can be from childhood, doesn't matter. They could be classes you took, relationship, anything goes. So you'd write them down. And then after that, next to those, you write down the feeling that you had primarily, uh, which is also a value, in my opinion. Where so for me, when I look back at all of these different things, trips and times, pizza parties and things that seem unrelated, they're all related because all of them had me feeling connection, contribution, and playful, which I also play put playful and creative expression in the same kind of bucket. So those three things were happening 100% of the time. And so when you look write out these memories, you're gonna notice you will start to repeat yourself. Like connection came up 100% of the time. And again, it's not because you're a boring person, it's because that's what you love. You you see, you know, and then I think the person who wrote the book with me, I think for her humor again, was another one. What else? Um loyalty, I think was something that it's gonna be very different for some people. Some people say adventure. Uh, some people will say um learning new things, learning, you know, growth is a is a thing. So whatever it is for you, you write those things down. And then you kind of get it to that three to five values that are most important to you. And from there, guess what? You just need to look for ways to make that happen in the life you're living right now. So you have a job that you know you're less than thrilled with, you feel like you don't have any purpose. Well, if that was me, I would say, well, I've got to find some connection and contribution and maybe figure out if it's possible to have fun or be creative at this job. How can I do that? Well, for me, connection is going to be pretty easy, probably. I can probably somehow find a way to connect to people and find a way to contribute. And then I will start to set that sense of, okay, now I'm living a life of purpose. And then you can also, what the other thing this does is it opens up that create curiosity again, and you will start to see other opportunities around you that you didn't notice before. That's all. You just weren't aware of them. And you'll see, oh my goodness, my it's not even at work. I see all these other fun places that I can contribute instead. That might happen. Or you might see this relationship. You might see these relationships with your kids or with your parents or your significant other, your friends. You might see that, oh, the reason you're feeling stuck in these relationships or they're not going the way you want them to is because you're not showing up in a way that makes you light up, which is ultimately you being in in alignment with your North Star. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Yeah, it does. And you know, that is reassuring to hear because I think one of the fears people carry is that if they don't know their purpose by a certain age, they miss the window. And what you're pointing to is that it is less about finding the one fixed answer and more about learning to keep listening.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Yeah.

Purpose Through Curiosity And Compassion

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Absolutely. And there is no end point to this. I think my opinion, things start ending for us when we stop being curious. As long as you're curious and compassionate with yourself, like you don't, again, some of us thought, oh, I'd figure it out when I was 30 or 40 or 50, or I thought I'd know much. I thought I'd feel like more of a grown-up by now. Well, we don't. We're we um some of us are still reinventing ourselves. And guess what? That's beautiful, that's fantastic, that's a great thing. Um, and just stay curious. I I think. I don't know. What do you think? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Yes. Staying curious is one of the things that you have to be because it not only serves your curiosity, I think it is one of the essence of living happily, I would say. Yeah.

Where To Find Brigita And Closing

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Brigetta for people who want to learn from you or just want to connect with you or want to read your books, where can they do that?

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Yeah, so the books are available everywhere, Amazon and pretty much anywhere that you love to buy books. You can also get it on my website. Um, and you can find me and work with me in all sorts of different ways. My website is my name, brigittadow.com. And um I'm also on Instagram and Facebook and everywhere else. And I work with people one-on-one. I also work in groups. Uh, I work on Zoom primarily. Uh, so I'm very easy to get in touch with and easy to work with. So I do recommend that people just reach out and see what's gonna work best for them and see if there's a group maybe they want to join, or if they're if we want to do one-on-one coaching and um go from there. Yeah, I'm easy to reach, easy to access.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Perfect. And uh all these links are uh in the show. Righetta, is there any last message there that you won't leave us with?

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Any last messages? Uh I would just say more of I loved this conversation, by the way. Yeah, see if you can find a way to be creative each day. Just take all the pressure off and just make it something that you can win at on a daily basis and and see what would be fun to you. Just ask yourself that question, be open again, be curious. Like you said, curiosity is that doorway to the happiness. So just be curious and see what comes up.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Ricetta, thank you so much for coming here in the conversation that reminds you that wholeness is not something you arrive at, it's something you keep returning to one creative at a time.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Thank you so much. I love this conversation.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

And to everyone listening, if something in today's episode stayed with you, share it with someone who might need it tonight. And if you haven't already, subscribe to Healthy Mind Healthy Light wherever you get your podcast. Take good care of yourselves, all the parts of you and like that.