I've been an actor writer producer for
over 30 years and I've taught comedy for
more than 20 but it was only recently
that I fully realized the incredible
healing power of creativity six years
ago
I almost died I had a massive stroke I
lost the use of my right hand my right
arm my face was paralyzed and I felt
like this the doctors said it would be
impossible for me to ever drive my car
or play tennis or to ever sing again
well they were wrong there was so so so
so
you know why the healing power of
creativity after the stroke I was rushed
to a place I like to call the room of
death there were three other people in
the room of death whose average age was
approximately 275 and they breathed like
this it was like I was surrounded by
asthmatic pterodactyls the last thing
the nurse said to me before I went to
sleep was I hope you have your affairs
in order not what you want to hear from
your nurse at 1:00 in the morning
I was convinced I was going to die that
night I had the most horrible nightmares
filled with blood gore and samurais
riding motorcycles firing submachine
guns I might have taken too much
medication the next morning I was
transferred from the room of death to a
different room the room of faint hope
there were three other stroke survivors
in the room they were much younger than
in the room of death and he sounded way
less like pterodactyls they were in as
bad a worse shape than I was which only
made things worse for me
I knew the stats one in six stroke
victims died doctor after doctor giving
me test after test after test had driven
me into a high state of anxiety and deep
depression I was worried I was going to
have another stroke I looked around me
at the other people in the room moaning
lifeless I stared out the window at the
mountains I saw a bird fly by birds
always remind me of my mom and that's
when the idea hit me
I was going to turn this experience into
a play a comedy actually and I'd call it
stroke of luck as soon as I had the idea
everything changed the entire narrative
flipped it was like I had been given a
new set of eyes the other people in the
room were no longer victims now there
were powerful characters in my play
these stroke survivors were my heroes
and I had been transformed into a hero
in my own play resilient unstoppable I
would survive this so I could be an
inspiration to others I heard a voice in
my head it was my mom's voice something
she used to always say to me when I was
a child growing up no matter how rough
things get do something you love every
day so I did I started working on the
play right away just not with this hand
about a week later they sent me home I
could barely move my fingers and I could
do this with my arm I was starting to
believe that the doctors were right but
my recovery would be impossible I was
visited by three therapists for one hour
each every day the first exercise we did
was to walk for a half an hour every day
my physical therapist said that this
would not only be good for my heart and
my immune system but it would
dramatically improve my overall quality
of life Wow who knew I mean other than
my physical therapist
the first exercise we did was something
called a pincer strength test does
anybody know what that means
it's this move it measures the cinch in
the pinch and it's one of the moves that
separates from the from the other
animals in humans and it also means
that's a really pace to meet the ball
in a time so I am squeezing like I am
really squeezing a hard I'm giving it
every nerve back anybody want to guess
my score
zero my score was zero you know what I
thought nowhere to go but up a couple of
weeks later we do another test using my
right hand taking small small items and
putting them into a cup I had two and a
half minutes there were 15 items things
like coins buttons paperclips a healthy
hand would do all 15 in under 10 seconds
I took the entire two-and-a-half minutes
and he guesses as to how many I did - I
did - you know what I thought that's way
better than zero well who was that
kidding was incredibly depressing for
about a half a second but I was able to
turn it around because I had become a
hero in my own play I was able to see
things differently
and thanks to my mom I was doing
something I loved something creative
every day some days I'd work on the play
some days I'd sing some days I'd dance
but I'd do something creative every
single day and with my creative juices
flowing I started believing I would get
better this is the power the healing
power of creativity
it makes the impossible seem possible
now there have been many studies over
the years that support this idea of
creativity the
a powerful tool for people's healing and
recovery I'm gonna cite one in
particular in 2010 the American Journal
of Health published a review called the
connection between art healing and
public health
it found that creativity has a positive
impact on one sense of hope self-worth
and well-being decreases depression and
anxiety reduces stress improves cell
function brain function boosts memory
and releases the neurotransmitter
dopamine which is an antidepressant it
actually creates feelings of joy and
happiness it's like chocolate without
the calories we had a mantra in recovery
if it's good for the heart it's good for
the brain if it's good for the heart
it's good for the brain come on
everybody say it with me if it's good
for the heart it's good for the brain if
it's good for the heart it's good for
the brain and creativity it's not only
good for the heart and good for the
brain it is great for the soul fast
forward 15 months my place stroke of
luck has been an incredible success
I've played across the Lower Mainland -
standing ovations and five-star reviews
my recovery remarkable I'm driving my
car I'm playing tennis although I lose a
lot and I've sung in front of thousands
of people they're small and when I rose
yeah I didn't have no doubt I'm actually
not too bad I've become a spokesperson
for the Heart and Stroke Foundation I
have started hosting an event called art
after stroke my play is being performed
to stroke victims in recovery clubs
across BC I've begun singing for
hospital patients I have seen some
amazing things I have seen how
creativity in all its forms music art
poetry dance painting how it inspires
people how it helps them
he'll and gives them a better recovery I
have witnessed with my own eyes people
who cannot speak who are like zombies
with a zero energy suddenly it light up
as soon as the piano starts playing it's
like a switches turned on and when I
start singing they start singing with me
the whole song people who could not
speak this is not some miracle this is
not magic its science creativity makes
the impossible seem possible I started
sharing my story about my recovery about
my play I was talking to this friend of
mine who designs video games we were
chatting about how incredibly creative
video games are there's the art there's
the voiceover the music the technology
the intricate storylines I discover that
we share a common vision a common dream
of using video games to promote positive
social change amazing the next day the
very next day I'm fixing a washing
machine part of my day job as a building
manager and there's a guy waiting to do
his laundry we start chatting he tells
me about something called games for
change which does exactly what we had
been talking about the night before they
have thousands of games that promote
positive social change everything from
healing to climate change you name it he
tells me about one game in particular
called Philo where gamers create models
that can be used for genetic research
since its inception more than 350,000
models have been created 7,000 in the
first day alone I can't believe the
incredible potential once we unlock this
that's possible because it's hard to get
people to volunteer to make the world a
better place but it is easy to get them
to play video games
I get so excited about sharing this idea
of the healing power of creativity this
idea of inviting other people to be
heroes in my play in my story and
offering to be a hero in theirs
speaking of heroes remember my mom do
something you love everyday she's my
biggest hero probably one of the most
creative people I ever met she was an
amazing Baker she loved to write stories
and tell us stories to inspire us she
was a brilliant dancer and she came up
with the most creative ways to get me to
me eat food that I didn't want to I
wrote another play it's about her it's
called the unbreakable popsicle stick
gang anybody want to hear why it's
called that 1965 my father left us my
mom calls an emergency family meeting
there was her the two boys and the two
girls she believed in equality
she gave us each a popsicle stick she
said see if you can break it and we did
it was easy then she gave us five
popsicle sticks one for each of us as
she said try it we tried we couldn't we
couldn't do it you could be the
Incredible Hulk you could not break five
popsicle sticks see she said when we're
alone were easy to break but when were
together nothing can break us apart she
had used creativity to take this moment
which could have been devastating for
our family and turn it into something
that would keep us there for each other
for the rest of our lives
it makes the impossible seem possible I
was thinking about my mom creativity
this whole journey and about how
important it was to walk for a half an
hour every day how much that helped me I
still try to do it today and I was
thinking what if we took it a step
further what if we did something
creative something we loved for half an
hour every day or even 15 minutes if
that's all you got but do it every day
what could happen sign up for a cooking
course take dance lessons learn to play
the ukulele start writing your play
imagine what could happen imagined your
mood improving your brain functioning
better your stress going down being
kinder to the people around you imagine
I and when those people ask you what
happened what made this incredible
change in you you tell them about the
healing power of creativity you tell
them about my mom on what she said
do something you love everyday
you