The power of nature to unblock your creativity

I recently experienced the power of nature and its effects on my creativity. It was one of those moments where your theory or hypothesis proves to be true.

The theory is born:

A few months ago, I listened to an audiobook called The 3-Day Effect by Florence Williams (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases). In this book, the author talks about the power of nature and the effects that occur in people’s bodies, brains, and emotions when they are outdoors in nature for three days. She goes on several trips including 3-day hikes with soldiers with PTSD, women who have come out of sex trafficking and even a fiction author who loves cities and hates nature. By the third day, some of the results were reduced stress, reduced blood pressure, hormone regulation, increased cognitive skills and more. The fiction author had been creatively stuck on a chapter in a novel he was writing, however, upon arriving home, he finished the chapter in a few days and several more chapters in a few months. The author’s conclusion is that “the more exposure humans have to nature, the more we can benefit from reduced anxiety, enhanced creativity, and overall well-being.”

The process:

I had been creatively stuck on an idea for a while. I wanted to form teams of musicians, actors, and artists to serve our communities with our talents. I just didn’t know how to do it exactly.

If you’ve been following my posts, you know that a few weeks ago I was in the Chiquitania region of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, volunteering with the Red Cross, distributing supplies to the communities affected by the forest fires (You can read another post about that trip here). During those two days, we were exposed to nature’s power. While I was there, I got the idea for Arte y Ánimo, a project that will bring together artists, musicians, and actors that will travel to the affected communities to inspire hope and raise awareness for the environment.

Arriving home, I put together a list of songs that inspire hope and good self-esteem. One of those is my song Mucho Más, which talks about Bolivia’s creative potential. I also decided to write another song specifically for the affected communities. I still don’t have a title for it and I don’t know how to classify it. It is a mixture of free verse poetry and song. My best reference is Joel Mckerrow’s work.  I started writing this song/poem in my journal.  Later, I typed it out in a Word doc and started editing and adding to it.  I then started plucking away at the ukulele trying to find a chord progression and melodies. The verses were coming together, I was happy with them, but the chorus just wasn’t working. I wasn’t sure what was wrong. I liked the lyrics of the chorus, but I couldn’t find a melody for it, and even though I believed in the message, I felt that maybe it wasn’t really connected to the verses.  I was creatively stuck for a few days.

The outcome:

My friend Marcelo invited me to go on a hike with his hiking club. We went to a little community called Bermejo. It was beautiful. The dominant color was green, with specks of red, yellow, purple and white. We walked along a river, and then made a long intense climb up the mountain and eventually arrived at a beautiful pond at an eco-resort called Laguna Volcán. There we had some refreshing strawberry juice.

It felt so good to get outside and connect with nature even though it was only one day, not three. The next day, I decided to test this theory that connecting to nature would boost my creativity. I picked up my ukulele and opened the Word doc with my half-written song and went to work. My first decision was to throw out the chorus and define the direction and message of the song. After that, within an hour, I had written a pre-chorus and a catchy chorus that I can’t get out of my head.

The song/poem is still a work in progress, but I want to share it with you anyways. I like sharing my process because too often we only see the final product that is amazing and we don’t realize how much of a struggle it was to produce it. So, here is the unfinished version, but please stay tuned for the end product.

Note: Words in italics are sung

My throat dry, same as the earth

The earth split, my soul cracked

The rain forgot about us

Of the little that I had, now I don’t even have half

Of the little I had, I don’t even have half, I don’t even have half

Seven years I extended my roots and seven years I extended my hands to the sky

And when my fruit was almost ripe

Suddenly, all my effort, ashes

Of the little I had, I don’t even have half, I don’t even have half

And as the smoke seeks any crack to enter my house, desperation threatens me. I can’t breathe, I cough and cough, I can only think, “Who should I blame? Who should pay?” Bitterness pushes me while violence pulls, but NO! I won’t lose my humanity

I won’t lose my humanity, my humanity

Life before was simpler than it is now. If before I had a reason to complain, now I have double, or maybe triple, but I made a decision to not feed my frustration, to raise my hands to heaven and be thankful for the sun that smiles on me, the earth that sustains me, the wind that refreshes me, the air that gives me life. Because it is true that the past was better, better than the present. But I won’t stop believing that the future will be even better.

(Pre-chorus)

The past was better

Better than the present

I won’t stop believing

That the future will be better

Better than what is

Better than what was

(Chorus)

The best is yet to come

I won’t stop believing

That everything works out for good

I trust in my Creator

I would love to hear your comments and feedback, about the song/poem or the relationship with the power of nature and creativity. Please leave a comment.