The Myth of Emotional Stability
The Myth of Emotional Stability
Why Creatives Need Their Ups & Downs
If you really knew me you would know that have battled with depression on and off my entire life. There were times when it swallowed me whole, leaving me feeling lost in a fog of hopelessness, disconnected from myself and from life. I tried medication. It only numbed me. It dulled the edges of my pain, but it also dulled my joy, my passion, my creativity.
It wasn't until I discovered the power of using art to heal myself that I was finally able to breathe again. Instead of feeling trapped inside my emotions, I found a way to release them. Instead of being weighed down by the darkness, I learned to transform it into something tangible—something that had shape, color, movement, and meaning.
Creativity became my medicine, not by erasing the pain, but by giving it a place to exist outside of me.
Through painting, writing, and dance, I stopped seeing my emotions as enemies to fight and started treating them as raw material—energy that could be shaped into art. And the more I created, the more I healed. The fog didn’t disappear overnight, but I could see through it. I could navigate it. I could make something from it.
That changed everything. It didn’t just help me survive my own darkness—it showed me the way to help others do the same.
And let me tell you, that was a game changer.
Instead of running from my emotions, I started to express them. I painted when I felt lost. I wrote when I was drowning in self-doubt. I moved my body when words failed me. And what I found wasn’t just relief—it was alchemy. My emotions stopped feeling like a burden and started feeling like fuel. Creativity gave me a way to work with my feelings instead of being consumed by them.
This discovery didn’t just save me—it put me on a path to share this work with others. It’s why I teach, why I coach, why I host retreats where people can learn to harness their emotional world instead of fearing it. Because I know I’m not the only one who has felt like this. And I know there’s another way to live.
The Rollercoaster of a Creative Life
For years, I believed that if I could just get my emotions under control, I would finally unlock my full creative potential. If I could just be more even-keeled, less reactive, more “balanced,” my work would flow effortlessly. But here’s the truth I eventually had to face: emotional stability is a myth.
Every great artist I admire rides the waves of their emotions. They don’t flatten them out—they use them. They make art from their longing, from their rage, from their wild joy, and their sorrow. They don’t wait until they feel “ready” or “calm” to create. They create because they feel so much. And when I finally stopped trying to fix myself and started working with my emotional life instead of against it, my creativity exploded.
Turning Emotional Energy into Creative Fuel
I’ve spent years mentoring creatives who feel stuck, and if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s this: the moment people stop resisting their emotions and start engaging with them, something shifts. Their creativity ignites. Ideas flow. The very feelings they once feared become fuel for their most powerful work.
I’ve watched my students pour their darkness into poetry that takes my breath away. I’ve seen them use their anxiety to fuel bold, abstract paintings full of movement and energy. I’ve watched them take their fears of being seen and turn them into stories that crack their hearts wide open.
Creativity doesn’t require emotional stability. It requires emotional fluency—the willingness to listen to what’s inside and turn it into something beautiful.
What I Want You To Know
If you’re sitting there thinking, I’ll start writing when I feel more confident or I’ll make art once I feel better about myself, I want to lovingly call bullshit on that.
Start now. Start inside the storm. Start when you’re sad, or uncertain, or afraid. Make something from the place you’re in right now, not the place you wish you were. Because when you do, you’ll realize that the very emotions you thought were holding you back were actually the key to unlocking your deepest creative flow.
If this speaks to you, join me for the next CHG Live session. We’ll be diving into this work together, exploring how to ride the emotional waves instead of resisting them. If you’re ready to stop trying to “fix” yourself and start using everything you feel as creative fuel, I’ll see you there.