To Give Life Meaning: Creative Pursuits and Wellness

“I write not for fortune or fame, but to capture life’s meaning and to give meaning to my own.”

That is a phrase that I jotted down in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. It came to me, as the best ideas often do, with a shiver that felt like truth and anticipation.

Truth because creative writing had been missing from my life to a large extent recently, and I now recognized I needed it to feel vibrant and sharp. And anticipation because I hoped this “declaration of soul” would spark new resolve into me—the resolve that all writers need, the kick in the ass to simply get at it.

It is so easy for the rest of life to crowd out the creativity, curiosity, and yes downtime that give life deeper meaning.

We get rushed and convince ourselves there is no time to be wasted on things that aren’t directly contributing to a more organized household, a larger paycheck, or a smaller to-do list (which never seems to really get smaller anyway). We fall into mental ruts thinking about the same things—often banal responsibilities or useless worries—over and over again. We convince ourselves to stay busy in order to appease the gods of these ruts, and then exhausted and empty we collapse onto the couch or into the bathtub and scroll endlessly through mind-numbing social media.

Who of us in this day and age hasn’t lived some version of that?

But here’s the thing. If we stop feeding our curiosity and nurturing our need to create, life quickly becomes something that is two dimensional and vapid. You know that famous Thoreau line about “sucking the marrow out of life”? Well living that feels soulless and/or constantly stressed will do that for you if you aren’t careful.

But back to that soul statement that hit me the other evening (would calling it a “mission statement” denigrate its depth?).

Part I: Writing captures life’s meaning. This is, at heart, something that all forms of decent and honest writing share (news and most mainstream periodicals don’t apply, as they are neither decent nor honest).

Think about how easy it is to have a day pass by in a blur. And then a week. And then a year. We wander distractedly through God’s wonderous natural world and fail to notice any of it because we are preoccupied. We encounter a million human personalities and interactions but fail to appreciate the art of those things, instead usually just getting angry at the crowds and inconveniences.

I was listening the other day to a modern “spiritual guru” or “yogi” or however he refers to himself, and he posited that most people are so distracted by the “stuff” in their own heads that they have never even had the experience of actually “being” in a Publix grocery store (even if they had physical been there a thousand times).

Stop and look around from time to time. Take a pause. Take in the scenery—the beauty, the lunacy, the ironies, and the questions that have yet to be answered. These things are all around us, and writing—whether it is poetry, essay, short story, novel, comedy, or blog post—offers an opportunity to capture them, comment on them, and memorialize them.

Next time you are in a grocery store, think about “just being there” for a moment (even if someone is in the 15-item or less line in front of you with 25 items … but I’ll save that for another post).

And Part II of my midnight revelation: Writing gives meaning to the writer’s own life.

I’ve found that if writing is neglected, for me, the vibrancy can slowly begin to evaporate from life. Observations, even the most clever or poignant, get lost forever (or at best are mumbled onto a lazy social media post that no one will stop to see anyway unless there is some sort of fancy picture or shock value attached). Without taking the time to write, emotional challenges and even triumphs have no way of being expressed, and thus others will never have the treasure of relating to them and realizing they aren’t alone in their humanity. Apathy sets in as the colors drain from day-to-day life. Anger sets in as talents are denied. Depression sets in as life becomes all too literal.

Don’t allow the deeper meaning and soulful energy to be stolen from your life, that is the message here even if you aren’t a writer! Even though politicians, corporations, social media, and mainstream news would love to flatten your existence into something devoid of examination, creativity, and soul, fight back!

It takes effort at first, but in the end—just as with physical exercise—the rewards of honoring curiosity and creativity far outweigh any initial discomfort. Think about the pursuits and activities that help you to feel most alive and expressive, and then devote time to them without apology. They are as necessary to wellness as fruits, vegetables, fresh air and natural sunlight.

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MICHAEL PRIEBE is a writer and life/wellness coach who has worked with individuals from all over the globe to help facilitate positive transformations in their lives. If you would like to connect with him in coaching, please visit: www.michaelpriebe.com/coaching