Interview with Umayal Annamalai
In this episode, we will uncover 3 keys to:
- Self-Care and Self-Discovery
- Overcoming Guilt and Prioritizing Self-Worth
- Unleashing Creative Energy
Podcast Transcription
Episode 7: Umayal – Artist/Creative life coach of “Ignite Your Creative Genius”
Intro
Odiva Vasell: (00:00)
Hello all, and welcome. I am here with the fabulous Umayal, and we are having a little chat today. Not a formal interview, but we’re having a little chat today about the identity crisis. So, if you are a person who is struggling with overwhelm and taking care of the needs of others, you’re going to really want to listen into this talk. So, Umayal, tell us a little bit about you. We can see beautiful artwork behind a little bit.
Self-Care and Self-Discovery
Umayal: (00:40)
Yeah, hi Odiva. Thank you for introducing me. My name is Umayal. I’m an artist. I’m a creative coach, and a mom. So yeah, being an artist, mom, and wearing different hats, I always felt overwhelmed and exhaustion in my life. So, I always felt like I have to take care of my kids, to give, by being everything to everyone. I lost myself at times. I didn’t feel like what I wanted to do in life. Like that led me to deep inquiry and questioning like who am I, so what is my purpose? So, what am I doing? And that all led me to go deep into myself and to find out what is my purpose so that through ART I healed myself and I explored more. I became curious with myself, how am I feeling, and am I giving from a place of like resentfulness or am I giving from a place of love? So, at times, I feel like I wanted to give, I wanted to help my kids, I want to take care of them. But is it coming from a place of love or resentment? So yeah, I mean being connected to myself, nourishing myself, and taking care of myself, that felt I could feel when I make art that joy or spark in my life when I create art. So that helped me to connect with myself and to give from a place of love. So, I nourished myself and then I kind of helped my kids, and I was.
Odiva Vasell: (02:25)
Grounded.
Umayal: (02:27)
Yeah.
Odiva Vasell: (02:28)
And build your cup so that you could give them a cup that is overflowing. That’s beautiful. And I mean the artwork that you make, it’s so unique. Every time I look at your art, I feel like it looks like something that just grew out of the ground onto the canvas. It’s so natural and yet so powerful. What are you feeling when you start to create? What are the feelings that flow through you?
Umayal: (02:57)
Yeah, I mean, I paint intuitively, so I won’t have an end result in mind. So I always follow the process, the creative process, and how it leads me. I just follow my intuition and I play with the textures and colors. I do a lot of layers. I give myself enough time to play. I wouldn’t rush through. I just go with the process and go with the flow, so slowly it will just reveal to me. I won’t have an end result; I’m going to paint a woman or paint a flower or anything in mind. I just start with the blank canvas, just allow myself, and give myself permission to explore and play with the texture and colors, and it will just come out, yeah, intuitively.
Odiva Vasell: (03:50)
So you have created this awesome program, especially for moms to kind of reconnect with themselves. Tell me a little bit about that.
Umayal: (03:59)
Yeah, so I’m passionate about teaching moms. My heart breaks when I see moms, they put themselves last on the list. So I created this program so that it will help moms to connect with themselves more and give from a place of joy and abundance. They need to nourish themselves and take care of themselves. It’s really important for moms to take care of themselves and fill their cup first. So this program will help them to unleash their creative flow and connect with themselves more so that they can help their kids in creative ways and they can problem-solve in their entrepreneurial journey. I just wanted to help moms thrive in their motherhood and their entrepreneurial journey. That’s why I created this program.
Odiva Vasell: (04:53)
That’s so great because as a nurturer, I understand how easy it is to kind of lose yourself and lose your identity. You know, who are you? You’re so-and-so’s mom, and you don’t have another identity. I’ve talked to you before, and I mentioned that I became a caregiver, and over the last couple of years during that time, I lost myself as an individual, and I had to recreate myself and find out that I was a separate person. And that was huge because when you care for somebody so much, it’s easy to just give, give, give and pour out, and then you find yourself becoming depleted, yeah.
Overcoming Guilt and Prioritizing Self-Worth
Umayal: (05:43)
Yeah, I so much resonate with that. Yeah, many times that’s what happens. When we give so much, we feel so depleted and exhausted. Yeah, that’s why it’s really, like separating detachment is really important. It comes from a place of self-worth. Moms usually think their worth comes from how well their kids are doing or which college they are going to. They have so much pride in that, like, “My kids are doing well.” Yeah, I get it. Yeah, as a mom, I feel proud of my kids too. But at the same time, my worth comes from, am I living to my fullest potential? Am I connected to my authentic self? Am I expressing myself more? So that’s where I feel my worthiness, like self-worth comes from that place. That’s why it’s so important to take time for ourselves and to connect with ourselves and heal ourselves with art. That will help moms.
Odiva Vasell: (06:57)
Self-healing and self-soothing, besides you know, the bad habits that come out with the overeating and other things that can come out when you’re not taking care of self. Some people can go their whole lives without recognizing who they are as an individual. We sometimes think again, who we are as an individual is through someone else, and those kids will go off to college, the husband has his own goals, and then you can feel lonely and isolated in that because you never put anything into yourself. You’ve mentioned something before about the guilt factor. In identity, guilt is a huge motivator for a lot of the things that we do in our lives. I was going into that phase of, “Oh, am I checking on the person enough? Am I doing enough? What if something goes wrong? I feel so guilty, so I wouldn’t even separate myself.” And I noticed with moms, yeah, as a teacher, I would have programs for the adults, and they would say, “I really need that program,” but they would not invest in anything for themselves. Every dime, every penny would go to the kids, whether the kids wanted it or not. And again, you could find yourself at a place years down the line where you’re completely depleted, and you’ve given all, and you have nothing left.
Umayal: (08:57)
Yeah, I completely agree with you. That guilt factor, yeah, most of the time, moms feel that guilt for taking time for themselves because they feel like people will say they are selfish for taking care of themselves or the judgment that comes from giving themselves that time. Yeah, I totally get that at times. But what is more important? The kids will grow old, they’ll go to college, and they’ll have their life. But we won’t. We would have missed all those days, right? So we are giving it all the time, and by the time we’ll be like 45 or 50, the moms’ kids will go out of the house, and they’ll feel so isolated, and they won’t have anything for themselves. So that’s why it is so important to take time for ourselves as moms. It’s really important to connect with ourselves so that we don’t give from a place of guilt and feeling resentful later.
Odiva Vasell: (10:05)
And this program helps you, helps us build ourselves through connecting with art, so it’s a slow process, and even if you, like myself, I’m not really an artist, but anybody can use it to kind of connect.
Unleashing Creative Energy
Umayal: (10:25)
Yeah, that’s what my program is all about. You don’t need to know how to draw. Even if you are a stick-figure drawing person, it doesn’t matter. The creativity is inside each one of us. It’s like the creative energy is inside us. We need to tap into that energy. Everything takes time. It’s like practice. I didn’t study art as a major, and art came to me, and it’s like I just practiced more. It’s like a non-negotiable time. I gave myself permission to explore art. So that’s how, yeah, you don’t need to be or have to be an artist or anything. Art is like a tool for connection. It’s like water or food. Like every day, it’s an essential, right? So creative expression is like an essential part of our life for emotional well-being. People talk about physical health and mental health, but emotional well-being is something people don’t take so much into account. So emotional well-being is really important. We need to be.
Odiva Vasell: (11:37)
It’s huge. A lot of people, you know, they talk about meditation and yoga. Sometimes, cooking does that. If I have to focus on a recipe, I usually do some gourmet cooking. I have gourmet cookbooks, and I focus on the recipe that I’ve never cooked before. It takes all of my attention and creativity. I always have something different, but yeah, that creativity and that time allows my body to disconnect from the noise of life and just fully invest in what’s in front of me. So, I can really imagine doing that with artwork and just making a nice little mess for myself. Okay.
Umayal: (12:29)
Yeah, that is what it is. It’s about the creative essence. So you can express it in dance or art or in any other form, like gardening, cooking. So, how to tap into that creative essence so that you’ll be more present and fully into that art, giving yourself into that art.
Odiva Vasell: (12:51)
And what’s the name of the program?
Umayal: (12:53)
It’s called Unleash Your Creative Flow. It’s the eight-week program.
Odiva Vasell: (12:58)
Yeah. When will you be having your next master class? I’ll put a link to it so that people can join you whenever your next master class is. I’ve been to your master class; it’s fun and fantastic. You can really learn a lot about energy and how to be creative through art and self-expression. I really advise people to start asking the right questions, and the right questions are, “Who am I? What do I want?” If you’ve never asked that before, it’s probably time to look into how I can care for myself in a very gentle way.
[Music]
Conclusion
In our journey today, we’ve unveiled the transformative force of self-care and self-discovery through art and creativity. Remember, self-care is not selfish. It’s a crucial step towards a more fulfilling and balanced life.
As you navigate your path, don’t shy away from asking the fundamental questions: “Who am I, and what do I want?” By nurturing your creative essence, you can unlock a life brimming with joy and purpose. Embrace this power and cherish your journey towards self-discovery and a deeper connection to your authentic self.