Things are pretty crazy around here in Seattle, around the country, and around the world.

It’s scary and things are changing fast. Besides prepping, washing your hands and all of that, we may be doing a whole lot of ‘social distancing’ for awhile. 

While we all try not to freak out, I’ve been looking for a silver lining in all of this. The other day I caught an insta post from the wise and talented musician/ producer Sam Harvey . To paraphrase it a bit, he suggested, ‘Tune Out (of the Media), Tune Into (Your Creativity).’

My interpretation of this is to take a breath and step back from the new cycle for a minute. Yes, of course, keep informed. But staring at the updates all day certainly hasn’t helped me in any way. (Although it has significantly increased my anxiety.)

Instead, perhaps we might actually be able to use this time for our creativity. With so many public and private gatherings and events being cancelled, many people will have more free time. What if we were to tune out a bit? How might that change our perception, loosen our fears? How might it start to calm things down a little inside?

As you may have guessed, I’ve been extending my meditation practice lately. It helps to slow down the swirling thoughts in the old brain cell. You may want to try it. I like using the sounds in this free app—  MyNoise and there are plenty of other apps out there.

When you’re done meditating, what might happen if you tuned into your creativity? Since we’re not going to be going out for coffee, running around town, visiting friends and all of that stuff for a while, what if we pointed some of our time towards our writing, painting, music, whatever?

At the very least, it’s a distraction from something you can’t do much about. At best, you can fire up your creativity to be seen, expressed, healed and connected.

One of the great things about being a creative is that you literally control the worlds you create. Whether it’s the words of a poem, the colors on a canvas or the notes on your synthesizer, you are in control.

Control is a big deal for humans. We want it. We need it. And in times like these, when everything seems out of control, it might be wise to center some attention on things that we do control. Like our writing, art, music, sketches, recipes, comic strips, etc. 

Please stay safe. Wash your hands. Be well.