Permission To Be Happy And Creative – Granted!
You need to give yourself permission to be happy and live your life to the fullest.
What does it mean to have permission to do something? My dictionary tells me that other words related to permission are: consent, sanctioning, and authorization.
Consent signifies agreement, and validation that what you’re doing meets with specific expectations, criteria, and guidelines.
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Authorized To Create
Authorization – well, that implies that you’re something special. Not just anyone is meant to be painting this painting, writing this song, or designing that jewelry. You have been specially authorized to do it.
And why? Because you have the unique gifts necessary to bring that creative project into being. Who authorized you? The same power that granted you those gifts and skills – whether you choose to think of that as God, the universe, Spirit, or another name. As we read in The Science of Getting Rich
Why is it so difficult to authorize ourselves, permit ourselves to be happy and consent, to sanction our own creative work? Sometimes we seek this permission from others, unconsciously (or consciously) hoping they’ll deny it, so we won’t really have to venture into the scary world of living up to our potential.
Many of these words symbolize that external permission to be happy is needed. And sometimes it is.
Permission To Be Happy From Others
Whether you want to attend an artist retreat day, meet a deadline, or just develop a new idea that came to you overnight, you’ll sometimes need permission from the people you share your life with to take the time for your creative work. There are so many different types of crafts to try, and you will always find one that suits you. I love alcohol inking, knitting and scrapbooking, for example.
It might mean delegating household work or child care or rescheduling a date or planned event. All of you might also need a willingness to be flexible and to accept that sometimes things don’t get done right away. It also means ensuring an environment of support for your work.
Will others permit you? Of course, you can’t control what anyone else thinks, says, or does, but consider this: our loved ones will take cues from us about how serious our creative work is to us.
If we’re constantly putting it on the back burner, putting our work down, and letting it be the first thing to go when things get stressful or busy, we’re teaching others to treat it the same way.
If we don’t take our creative work seriously, why should they?
Permission From Yourself
I think what’s even more important is the permission we give ourselves. We deny ourselves permission to pursue our creative work for so many reasons. Fear tops the list.
Fear of success, fear of failure, fear of what people will think of us, fear of being good, fear of being terrible, or fear we’ll let someone else down, to name a few examples.
Sometimes we hold on to earlier instances when we were denied permission, denied access, not sanctioned or authorized, or when our work was criticized or belittled. Some of us have even been told, directly, NOT to pursue our creative work (“Don’t give up your day job”, “find another path”, “you have no business doing this work”), which hung a big UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS sign on the door of our creative hearts.
So hang a new sign on your creative heart – one that reads “Artist at work”. And in the fine print, “This work has been sanctioned by _______” (the name of your source of Power).
10 Signs That You Have Given Yourself Permission To Be Happy and Creative
1. The first words out of your mouth when someone asks “And what do you do?” are “I’m a songwriter/artist/sculptor/writer, etc.”.
2. You work steadily at your craft, whether it’s working on or re-working pieces or promoting your work.
3. You teach your loved ones to treat your art seriously.
4. The materials and resources that you need to create are part of your budget and are planned expenses every month.
5. You’re committed to your learning, growth, and development, participating in artists groups and discussion forums and seeking out mentorship and coaching.
6. You don’t let mistakes or criticism stop you from taking your next steps.
7. You’re building the resources you need to support yourself financially, emotionally, and spiritually.
8. You’re conscious of your physical lifestyle habits and choose the ones that won’t interfere with your creative work.
9. You find opportunities to pass on your knowledge and support wherever possible, to someone who’s had less experience than you have.
10. You consistently say no to requests for your time, energy, and commitment that will take you away from your creative work.
For more on happiness, click here.
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