Take Your Broken Heart Make It Into Art

Winter Blues Is Real

Carrie Fisher was also one of Hollywood's most famous Script Doctors (someone who comes in and helps edit the script so it makes more sense, flows better, has believable dialogue, etc). She was literally hired to come in and fix up the scripts of several movies to make them better, movies you may have seen such as:

• Hook
• Sister Act
• The Wedding Singer
• Star Wars (everything from the original trilogy to the prequels and sequels)
• Scream 3
• Last Action Hero
• Coyote Ugly
• Lethal Weapon 3
• Kate & Leopold

And these are only the ones she's gotten credit for.

She's also written several semi-autobiographical and autobiographical books about her life, the most famous of which may be "Postcards from the Edge," which later became a film staring Meryl Streep.

Before her death in 2016, Fisher was a champion of mental health and taking care of yourself (she was very open about her bipolar disorder, and when she got cremated, opted to be put in a giant urn that looked like Prozac), and that's where the above quote comes from. It's about turning all of your sad, and depression, and sorrow, and making it into something powerful; something that can sway minds, induce feelings, and change worlds: art.
(She did it all her life, and if you ever feel like dozing down the path of Fisher, you won't be disapointed.)

It's a great idea for if you've been going through stuff: create.

I'd venture to say that what depression is is war. It's a war against yourself; your mind. An every-day battle where you have to fight just to keep on going.

And if you truly want to win that war, you've got to create. After all,  the opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation.

You've got to turn your broken, war-roughed heart into art. No matter what kind of art that may be.

I know the League focuses a lot on fine art and that's fine!

But not everything you create has to be "fine" or even "good."

You can make bad art.

You don't have to get a fresh canvas and take your oils or acrylics and turn it into a masterpiece (though it's fine if you do). Experiment a little.

If you've never worked with watercolors before, try. You know how easy it is to get a cheap, Crayola brand of watercolors for kids and some sketch paper? That's still working with watercolors.

Let you imagination flow like you're 6 again and paint simple things: shapes. Flowers. Cats. Dogs. Dragons. Castles!

If you've never fingerpainted before, now's the time to try it. I'm telling you, it's easy to go to a craft store--even Walmart--and find cheap paint sets for kids. Spend $10 on a set and get messy. Let go of it all.

Want to make something beyond the canvas? DO IT. I make beaded bracelets now and I absolutely love it!

There's this place in Plymouth called Creatopia (https://www.creatopiapottery.com/) where you can book an appointment to paint some pottery--either by yourself, or with some friends!

Do you remember coloring books and crayons? They make adult coloring books now. Buy one, and some crayons or colored pencils, and let go. (I'd spend my winter breaks in college coloring in coloring books. I had adult money, and I used it to buy myself that really nice 96 crayon pack that I always wanted as a kid but my mom was like, "no it's too expensive" and then buy the really crappy Roseart crayons for me to use. Eat glass, mom. Adult me says I deserve the 96 crayon pack now, with the sharpener on the back! AND SO DO YOU!)

Don't let a sense of perfectionism destroy your creativity and sense of childlike wonder. Sometimes, you just need to make bad, fun art to fix your broken heart.

The other half of this blog post is inspired by TikTok user freakinlex, who posted this video online (Transcription below):

"I like to make art just because I like to make art. There doesn't always have to be some crazy, deeper meaning behind your creativity. When I'm struggling with my creative flow, I just pick a couple things that I like, a couple things that I feel fit my style and my aesthetic, and then I take all of those things and I just throw them together, kind of collage style. Just whatever feels right in the moment. That's. That's what happens. And this isn't to say that I don't ever make art that has meaning--I most definitely do! It's just that not every piece has to. Let me rephrase this, because these pieces do have a meaning and a purpose. The purpose is fun; it's happiness...it's giving you a reason to smile when you look at it. Creating just for the sake of creating can help you move stagnant energy. It can help you let go of judgement that you hold toward yourself. And it is really eye opening. When you create freely, there is this magical thing that happens where you start to get to know yourself again. And apart from all of that, you learn how to make mistakes. You may even start to build a relationship with your art that you've never had before. It's okay to make art that is really well thought out and has this really great meaning behind it. And that might be what calls to you, but, you know,it's also okay to look at a blank canvas as say, 'I'm gonna tackle this with absolutely no plan.' And there are so many people out there that are gonna tell you that that is wrong and that it's not okay, and that you're not a true artist. Maybe they'll say that you're a lazy artist. But the reality of it is that we didn't start creating because we cared about what other people thought. We did it because it felt good. And it's really interesting what your mind can come up with when you put yourself in this position of having resources and no rules. Imagine what you could create if you allowed yourself to have that judgement free environment. And the hard truth is that you're gonna make bad art. You have to make bad art. you should make bad art. It's all part of the journey. And at the end of the day, we do this because we have to. We are born creative beings. It's in our blood. So give yourself some freedom. Go finger paint, make a flower crown. Sing at the top of your lungs. I don't care what it is. Just make sure you do it and do it today. And do it full heartedly and DO NOT JUDGE YOURSELF. We don't need more structure. We don't need more rules. We need to learn how to have fun again. I hope you take this and allow yourself to immerse in the human experience. And do what brings you joy."

It's important to just make art sometimes, for the sake of making art. Even bad art! Just so long as you're channeling your creativity and letting it flow to get yourself out of your own thoughts.

And I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking it's gonna be hard.

I never said it was easy.

But nothing worth having; worth doing is ever that easy.

And no one said you can't have fun with it--I literally spent like two paragraphs telling you to have fun with it!

Do it for me. Do it for Carrie Fisher. Do it for yourself. Heck, do it for the child that's inside of you (because we all know, you can be 82 on the outside, but inside? You're still that 12 year old kid that loves to doodle on everything you can get your hands on).

I dare you to create something today.
(Heck, I created this blog post today, and already, I'm feeling better).

I bet it'll make a world of a difference!

And remember that other quote of Carrie Fisher's I mentioned?