Here’s the quick TL;DR:

Emotions are incoherent thoughts, and creativity is incoherent output.

Emotions can cloud our headspace, when we need to be able to execute on our goals. I wanted to find a reliable means of re-adjusting at will, and I find the most consistent method to be creative outlets 🪴.

👉 Pick up a paintbrush, pen, microphone, instrument, whatever it is

👉 Change your physical surroundings if possible, and isolate yourself (if possible)

👉 Paint, sing, play, write, speak, you name it — just create

Let the emotion dissipate, and then re-assess where you are, and if you can go do something to move toward your long term goals, or even just continue what you are doing if it makes you happy.

Your creations can later eventually tell a valuable story, and are a powerful means of reflections on the intangibles.

I’m Joao NM, connect with me here if you’d like: Personal Site · Newsletter · LinkedIn · Twitter · Instagram · Book a Call

As the remaining sliver of 2021 comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on my various ambitions for the coming year (which is a long list to say the least), and one of the key considerations I’ve had revolves around what I can do on days where I don’t wake up feeling great, when I find myself in the wrong mental head space, and in need of a reliable mechanism to adjust myself to the correct space again — and I don’t think I’m the only one who has this consideration. There are many potential remedies, but they in my experience, they work inconsistently.

This week, I had a chance to go to the beach in Lisbon, and it gave me a great chance to reflect, think & grow.

Creative outlets act as an excellent means of dissipating frustrating, emotionally claustrophobic situations.

Our brain takes in a never ending input data stream from our senses, and the bulk of the processing that is done happens in the subconscious because there is simply so much, and whatever cannot be directly translated into coherent thoughts & words in our conscious, rational minds, is left as residual emotions. These are ideas I originally learnt about in Robert Greene’s book, The Laws of Human Nature, and provide the basis around why creative outlets are such powerful tools to re-adjust our headspace at will.

Essentially, what I’m getting at here, is that residual emotions are an incoherent manifestation of processing that has taken place in our subconscious, and has not made it out as words. There are other emotions which are of course useful, desirable, and different in their nature, but in this case I’m focusing on residual emotions that create a block against us doing our work, or desired activity. Establishing these emotions are generating resistance to actions we want to take to reach long term goals, it raises the question: how do you subsequently deal with those said emotions?

It’s no secret creative outlets can be used to dissipate pain, and frustration, and often that is what we observe in the most moving, powerful works of art; particularly in my case, I noticed this was the case for Frida Kahlo, one of my biggest inspirations. Her works were developed due to her need for a creative outlet to help her deal with the pain and frustration, as well as a passion and interest for her craft. A creative outlet can take almost any form you’d like it to be, from painting to dance and singing, or even just recording voice memos where you ramble.

While this is no secret, I feel that in most cases, in moments of frustration, we neglect to consider what we can do to get out of that space and many wallow in it far longer than is needed. Being able to diagnose and deliberately take action, and employ various creative outlets to help us deal with the resistance is a useful skill worth practicing, and one I intend to practice over the coming year. Creative outlets act as an excellent means of dissipating frustrating, emotionally claustrophobic situations.

This means of dissipation works best in tandem with other means of changing headspace, for example breathing, meditating, and walking outside (preferably in nature if possible). Pairing quiet reflection with physical space to think, and a means to express incoherent thoughts enables us to dissolve much of the mental block we might be facing.

Ultimately, at least in my case, the goal is to be able to remove myself from any degree of stress in a matter of minutes, quiet my mind, and work on the task at hand or think carefully and rationally about decisions I need to make. This is, in part, a skill that requires practice, and in fact an extraordinarily useful skill to have for anyone with big ambitions.

I’m Joao NM, thanks for reading my article — if you enjoyed it, feel free to share!

Personal Site · Newsletter · LinkedIn · Twitter · Instagram · Book a Call