The Opposite of Depression

Reflection #78: since peace, love, creativity and joy are the essence of spirituality, the path of Art is ultimately a spiritual path

The opposite of depression is not joy. Depression literally means to “press down.” Depression, repression and suppression all mean roughly the same thing — to press down, hold back or press under — to not allow, especially negative emotions, to be ex-pressed. Expression literally means to “press out.”

Thus, the opposite of depression is expression and, especially, creative expression. We must learn to embrace the dragon because creativity is a relief valve that leads to temporary enlightenment.

The Path of Art can lead you out of depression.

And, when negativity has been expressed — pressed out of your being — the natural state of a human is what results. And that natural state is joy, love, peace and creativity. That is why it seems like the opposite of depression is joy - because once you express the negativity, you do experience joy. You notice that you live in a world of wonder, quickened by the God Spell.

When you stop contracting around the negativity and expand into harmony with the current, it is a great relief. And, since peace, love, creativity and joy are the essence of spirituality, the path of Art is ultimately a spiritual path which, essentially, is the message of the classic book The Artist’s Way and a major message of my forthcoming book, The Sovereign Artist (join waitlist).

“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” — Mary Oliver, Poet

The Secret, 16 x 20, oil on panel, by David Michael Bowers. Courtesy David Michael Bowers — Learn More

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Other Referenced Posts:

Embrace the Dragon
“Such BIG Truths veiled behind psychological concepts.” - Louanne Headrick

Creativity is a Relief Valve
“Why? Why is every single paragraph in your essay so perfect that I can’t even choose which one I like the best? And what magical creativity elixir have you tapped into to be able to express truth like this? This is the first essay I’ve ever wanted to print out.” — Minna

The Energy of Temporary Enlightenment
“Well stated, Clint. You continue to play chords that resonate with my inner being. Thanks.” — Robert Chapala

The God Spell
“Love to you Clint in exposing truth to readers. Very well thought out words, sifted through the mind and soul of that one known as ‘Clintavo,’ that one small but unique piece of the holistic puzzle called life.” — Louanne Headrick

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No AI Zone: Everything written in this post (and all my posts) is written 100% by me, Clint “Clintavo” Watson, a flesh and blood human seeking to grow my soul and come home my truest self; for that is the essence of creativity. I do not use AI to assist me with writing — that would deny me the very growth of my world through writing that I seek.

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Poetic expression, spiritual ideas, and musings upon beauty, truth and goodness should be free to spread far and wide. Hence, I have not paywalled the work on this site. However, if you’re able to become a paid subscriber, I’d be eternally grateful. It would help, encourage and enable me to continue exploring these topics and allow me to keep it accessible for a world that is in desperate need of beauty, truth, goodness and love. — Creatively, Clintavo.