Possibly, for the first time in my life I’m finally figuring out that there really are positive benefits of creativity. I’m learning that happiness can inevitably be connected to our creative moments. What worries me is as I was looking for current articles around this idea of positive benefits coming from creativity, I couldn’t find current articles. Current- meaning over the past year during Covid-19. Why aren’t we talking about this? It makes me wonder. Am I missing something? Why suddenly am I now understanding that when I’m creative, I’m at my happiest, even when life is upside down?
I know this past year has been difficult for creative folks in many respects, and maybe that’s why. No one want to talk about the fact that they created less, or maybe that they created more but didn’t discuss it because they don’t want diminish other people’s experience, or make light of others that are struggling. I get that. No matter what camp you’re in whether it’s the ‘I just can’t right now camp’, or the ‘this is my time camp’, or like an earlier post, Now is OUR Time camp, let’s review the benefits creativity can bring. Maybe it will help to remind ourselves why we all create in the first place.
Freedom
Creating is in your control. You have the freedom to express yourself through your art. It’s that simple, really! If you start a new medium, you gain freedom from deciding to do so, and the ability to decide your learning process and how to begin this new and fresh project. It’s all up to you! No judgement. No stress. Just freedom to explore!
Self Awareness and Expression
As you gain this sense of freedom in your art, right behind it comes self awareness and expression. This is where we begin to explore who we are as an artist, no matter the medium. The process of creating becomes woven in with your identity as an artist, and a human, and how you express who you are through our art.
This opportunity to get to know ourselves also helps us to deal with what stressors may come our way. Hence, a positive benefit of creativity!
“I dwell in possibility.”
-Emily Dickenson
Reduces Stress & Anxiety
There is an article titled, The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature that covers the engagement with creative arts and its outcomes. The article discusses how music engagement, visual arts, movement-based creative expression, and expressive writing offer clear indications that that artistic involvement offers significant positive effects on your health. If you’ve disengaged from creativity, be it on purpose, or out of your control, it is possible that your stress and anxiety does not have an outlet.
“…the studies included in our review appear to indicate that creative engagement can decrease anxiety, stress, and mood disturbances.“
–Heather L. Stuckey, DEd and Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, The Connection Between Art, Healing, And Public Health — a Review of Current Literature (2010)
Engaging in creative endeavors allow us the opportunity to get in the flow of creativity. I love having a block of time where I can simply sit down and write. I begin to lean into the craft and find a rhythm. My daughter lives for the ability to attend play rehearsal for blocks of time in order to dive into a character. Furthermore, if you’re a dancer you move your body and get into a meditative state. There are a multitude of creative endeavors that I’ve not mentioned that can reduce your stress and anxiety.
Better Problem Solving
As we work on our craft we learn to problem solve. As we create, we know who we are a little better than before we started. Learning a new medium will challenge us to work through what isn’t quite right. Our imagination is free to choose which way to go next, and when it works- DAMN! It worked!
Furthermore, you also push yourself out of comfort zones you didn’t know you had in order to problem solve and attend to creative solutions. You will find patterns in your solutions. What will happen is that you will create art you didn’t know you could create, and art that the world desperately needs.
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.“
-Albert Einstein
Confidence
In the end we gain confidence in ourselves. Now, there is a lot of chatter around lack of confidence as an artist. Yes, it’s real. Yes, it happens. I urge you to recall when it went right. When your idea came to fruition and you felt that zing, or light bulb moment, or it was simply RIGHT! You know these moments. Think of one now. Remember it. Keep it in your mind for when you lack confidence. You did it. You finished this. You created this beautiful piece of art. No matter how you got there, and no matter what it looks like to others- this is your work. You can have success again, and again.
Furthermore, I’d like to share a Ted Talk on the 4 Lessons in Creativity by Julie Burstein. This talk is around creating in difficult times and how to learn to be creative when times are more than- well, than we bargained for. If you don’t have time to watch it, I’ve summarized her talk below the YouTube video.
“Creativity grows out of everyday experiences, more often than you might think.”
-Julie Burstein, 4 Lessons in Creativity
Four aspects of life we need to embrace in order for our own creativity to flourish:
- Pay attention to the world around us and be open to an experience that might change you.
- Learn from parts of life that are most difficult. Embrace them, not fix, or change them.
- Pushing up against the limits of what you can do and can’t do, sometimes pushing into what you can’t do helps you to find your voice. This can help you toward playful exploration.
- Embrace loss- stand in the space in what we see in the world, and what we hope for. This allows for passionate optimism to get back to work.
In Conclusion, it’s been a rough road the past 14 months, but no matter what you’re feeling today, it can change tomorrow. Art can and does change the world. Art can and does bring about happiness. Art can uplift others. There is hope.
