Music, art, and dance are just a few activities through which you can express yourself. Find new expressions or revisit old ones. Creativity is one of the top ten marks of a growing, self-renewing adult (Hudson, 1999). Creativity keeps you from becoming stuck. Be creative. Take a risk. Try something new that might put a smile on your face and hope in your heart.

Music is “a bridge to the soul.” Make time and find opportunities to experience a performance; “live and in person.” This may include the opera, musicals, concerts, etc. Music is a catalyst for positive and life-affirming emotions. Music does promote feelings of peace, contentment and even joy.

Joy is a key concept in spiritual encouragement for many faith traditions. One religious tradition goes so far as to declare, “The joy of the Lord is the source of a person’s strength.” Music can generate these emotional dispositions that enable you to expand your perspective on life. Music can generate a more somber mood as well. Clearly, though, music assists the mind and heart in reframing life situations.

Dance is a healthy activity for connecting body, mind, and emotions. Dance and “dance therapy” is a healing art. Dance can support the healing of body and spirit. Dance movement can reduce stress, provide a social environment, and reduce loneliness and isolation. Dance lessons are not necessarily out of the question for the LVAD patient.

You may find an outlet for stress and perhaps gain personal satisfaction in creating something. In the world of art therapy participants really do function better and improve their sense of well being. Drawing, painting, throwing clay, scrapbooking, beading, jewelry design, wood carving, model building, flying model airplanes are all supportive, even therapeutic for patients and caregivers alike. Art Therapy “uses the creative process of art making to improve and enhance the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages. It is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight” (American Art Therapy Association).