Happy Witch by Mandi Em

Author:Mandi Em
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Adams Media
Published: 2022-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

Create Just for the Sake of It

We humans have this bonkers preoccupation with keeping busy: We treat it as if it’s a virtue to work yourself into the ground to avoid sitting with your own thoughts. However, big magic can be found in the sleepy corners of your life. When we neglect to leave room for the unstructured, we operate in the frequency of control and resistance, which is certainly not the vibe for a contented life! Part and parcel to this is the notion that we aren’t doing enough. This is the curse of brain-led thinking, which places negative value judgments on aimlessness. Immediately when we sit to even do purposeful “nothing” (for example, meditating or reflecting in gratitude), our brains cannot abide it and switches us into busy mode. And it’s not even useful busy either—this hunk of skull meat would have us just pick up the phone to scroll into the void just for the sake of avoiding being idle. Witchcraft allows you to challenge these sorts of limiting beliefs and summon up happiness through stillness, connection, and seeking opportunities to lean way into creativity and joy.

Artists and witches alike are aware of the secret here, which is that aimless creativity is necessary for purposeful creating. As a writer, half my job to get words on the page is to sit in the quiet with myself, ignoring the desperate screams of my brain, which doesn’t want to give up the wheel. This is as necessary and fundamental a part of the process as putting pen to paper. And any attempts to justify it to yourself as neglectful or foolish don’t make that fact lose power. Just as sleep is a necessary part of life, so too is doing nothing a necessary part of doing anything.

When was the last time you gave yourself structured permission to be creative just for the sake of it? This is another prime example where you can take your cue from children. In childhood, creativity and play are considered paramount to healthy development, whereas in adulthood you tend to hold them at arm’s length unless they can generate income or gain you some kind of social favor. This creates a situation where the creativity itself is not incentivized, but the outcome of that creativity is. In many cases this can lead to things like creative blocks and burnout because you essentially exploit this beautiful dimension of the human spirit by assigning success to the result rather than to the process. And it’s the process that reaps more rewards!

Your happiness assignment is this: Go forth and create. Create something shitty! Create something and leave it unfinished! Create a masterpiece! To hell with the outcome: Just create!

Aimless creativity is seen as offensive to the culture of producing things, and thus, to create just for the joy of doing so is to essentially take your power back. It’s a reclamation of spirit! Indulge in aimless creativity to find joy and play. Not everything needs to be a means to an end; make art just for the sake of it, no expectations attached.

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