By Olivia Bagley
“Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.”
Do you like to draw, dance, or play an instrument? Did you know that when you engage in creative activities such as those that it can help your mood, emotion, and physical health? Amazing, right? Our lives are full of stress, worries, and so many other things. When we take the time to focus on a creative activity that we like, it can help our overall well-being.
Human beings have been creative since the beginning of time. Once humans were able to satisfy their basic needs, there was time for them to create. Even before then, humans were figuring out how to create tools to hunt and gather more efficiently. We still have evidence of human creations from 19,000 years ago with the cave paintings at the Lascaux Cave in France. So, how does creativity make a difference in our lives? Creativity helps people become happier, smarter, and healthier.
Have you ever lost all concept of time and space when you were doing something you love? This happens for me when I do calligraphy. I love taking words and phrases that are meaningful on their own and making them into a work of art. It takes me a good amount of time with my attention to the small details. I have found that from the time I start an activity to when I have finished, hours have passed by. The underlying concept to this experience is called flow. Flow is when a person is so enveloped by an activity that nothing else seems to matter, and they are at their peak of their performance. It is an amazing experience. Have you experienced this? What were you doing? How did it make you feel? Were you proud of the work you accomplished? Remember this experience—we’re going to talk about it more later.
Flow that stems from creativity can slow your heart rate and boost your mood (Stahl, 2021). Remember that proud feeling you had after you created something? This comes from a rush of dopamine, a natural antidepressant, to your brain. Science suggests that these simple creative activities you do can make you happier and less depressed!
Music is a prime example of creativity; it requires work from both sides of your brain. Let’s use the piano as an example. A pianist must read the music (which includes a bunch of different notations that all mean different things) and transfer that information to their fingers to play different rhythms on their left and right hand. On top of this, they must also fluctuate the tempo and volume to put emotion into the song and make it more meaningful. Not to mention, they have three pedals on the bottom that they play with their foot, which changes how the strings are hit within the piano to add more depth to the music. Are you confused at how pianists do all of this? It takes years of learning and practice. I remember when I started playing the piano. At first, I played the melody the same on both hands. Then, when my piano teacher wanted me to play two different things on my left and right hand, it took me weeks to get my fingers to cooperate. I had to train both sides of my brain to work at the same time. According to studies, there is clear evidence that musicians have improved connectivity between both sides of their brains versus non-musicians. This improves an individual’s problem-solving skills.
To go on, art has been used as a healing process across cultures and time. Recent studies begin to show how art can help us not only mentally, but physically too. Music and art therapy have been used in hospitals to benefit their patients. Studies have shown that patients who received art intervention as part of their therapy were more likely to have better vital signs and outcomes, less stress, and better sleep without the use of sleep aids. They even had earlier discharges from the hospital in comparison to patients who didn’t receive the art intervention (Stuckey, 2010). Expressive writing has also shown to help people with traumatic experiences. When they write about those hard times, it leads to improvements in their immune system. Scientists aren’t exactly sure why it helps. But they have found that after writing for just 30 minutes, the subject’s white blood cells increased from the test before they started writing (Stuckey, 2010). It’s amazing how something as simple as writing can help your immune system. We all should have been writing books during the height of the COVID pandemic!
Now that I’ve hopefully convinced you about the ways that creativity can boost your happiness, health, and mind, what do you do now? Here is just one set of steps to find time in your schedule.
Step 1: What do you like to do?
Make a list of all the things that you like to do that involve creativity. It does not matter whether it is short or long. Remember that experience from earlier when you felt like you had flow? Write down what you were doing then! It doesn’t just have to be the basics of writing or drawing. Creative activities include so many things: dancing, cooking, gardening, coloring, playing the guitar, playing make-believe with your kid, acting, and so on. Hopefully that kickstarted your creative juices. If you couldn’t think of anything, start with a list of things you want to learn and from there you can find what really clicks.
Step 2: Acquire any supplies
It’s easy to start small. Pick one activity from that list that you want to do this week. Does it require any tools? If so, add them to your grocery list and you can pick them up the next time you do your errands.
Step 3: Schedule Time
If you are like me, you have to schedule time to actually hang out with friends. Treat creativity the same way. This is something that will help you relax. Schedule a time in your week to do your activity; it could be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
Step 4: Have fun!
Follow through with the time you’ve scheduled into your week and enjoy doing what you love. You have made time for it, so have fun!
This all may seem like a lot of work at first. But once you have the supplies for the activity and you do it, I know you will remember how much you love it. Once you have a flow experience, you will probably want to experience it again. You can decide from here how often you want to cook, draw, or dance. It doesn’t always have to be scheduled. It can become part of each day as a simple destresser for life. You have creativity inside of you that is bursting to get out!
References
Cohut, M. (2018, February 16). How art and creativity can improve your health. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320947
Leckey, J. (2011). The therapeutic effectiveness of creative activities on mental well-being: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing,18(6), 501-509. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01693.x
Moore, E., Schaefer, R., Bastin, M., Roberts, N., & Overy, K. (2014). Can musical training influence brain connectivity? Evidence from diffusion tensor MRI. Brain Sciences, 4(2), 405-427. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci4020405
Stahl, A. (2021, December 10). Here's how creativity actually improves your health. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2018/07/25/heres-how-creativity-actually-improves-your-health/?sh=26d2492a13a6
Stuckey, H. L., & Nobel, J. (2010). The connection between art, healing, and public health: A review of current literature. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 254-263. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.156497
Griffiths, S. (2008). The experience of creative activity as a treatment medium. Journal of Mental Health, 17(1), 49-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638230701506242
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”