Continuing with the month of awakening, I wanted to take some time to explore the joys of messy play.
I’ve been sharing a lot of paintings and art pieces on the blog recently – this is something that used to terrify me! A while ago, I realised that it’s actually okay to not be great at art and to just enjoy the process. And it’s something I’ve been carrying forward with me a lot over the past few months.
What is messy play?
I think there are a lot of ways we could interpret messy play. For me, I take the meaning quite literally. When I sit down to paint, I don’t have a set idea of what I want to create. I choose the colours I’m drawn to and make a mess.
I’ll mix paint types, techniques, and different mediums. I’ll choose the ‘wrong’ type of paper. I’ll use so much paint that my paper rips. I’ll use brushes, then my hands. The point is that it doesn’t matter what I’m doing – I’m creating! I’m enjoying the process and seeing what spills out of my brain.
Messy play is often encouraged during the development of a child – a way of engaging the senses and exploration of textures, materials, and objects. It’s recognised as helping develop children both cognitively and creatively.
But the benefits don’t just limit themselves to children. Engaging with these activities as adults can help promote relaxation and emotional wellbeing. Although we as adults probably aren’t learning anything new, we can connect to and awaken our senses through this kind of exploration.
What do we mean by ‘inner child’?
When we refer to our inner child, we can mean a number of things. VeryWellMind has an extensive article that explores the psychological side of your inner child.
In summary, we’re talking about your childhood experiences, and the childlike senses and behaviours that still exist inside of you. Engaging with your inner child can be healing, affirming, or joyful. It depends on how you engage.
When I engage with messy play, this looks a lot like getting back to the confidently creative person I was as a child. I don’t care about whether my creations are technically good! I’m proud of them. The form is awful, the colour palettes don’t always work. But here I am, proudly showing my creations to the world with the confidence of a child without worrying what other people are thinking.
For you, it might look a little different. But getting in touch with your childlike self by allowing yourself to behave childishly has, for me, been an incredibly healing experience.
I post a lot of art on TikTok if you want to join me there!
Alternatively, I’ve started a Facebook community that’s all about connecting to yourself through creative pursuits.
I’d love to know more about how you’ve been using art to connect to your inner child and what parts of you it has healed. Let me know in the comments or over on social media!
The Opaque Elephant 
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