Introduction: Creativity and Mental Health

How often do you engage in creative activities to manage stress, anxiety, and mood? Did you know that creativity can play a major role in fostering mental wellness? Did you know that cooking, video editing, and journaling also count as creative activities? In this blog post, I’m going to discuss what the field of art therapy has known all along—that art-making and the creative process have much to offer people seeking psychological wellness. Why is that so? What exactly happens when we paint a canvas or strum a guitar that would lead to shifts in ourselves that serve us in other areas of life? Read on to discover more about the healing power of creativity and some simple creative exercises to get you started.

Getting Playful

From a therapeutic perspective, creativity is about unlocking the mind's playground. Playfulness is a valuable antidote to the seriousness of adult life, bringing a touch of whimsy and lightness to our days. Engaging in creative activities, such as drawing, writing, playing music, or dancing, involve a willingness to explore without knowing how everything will go. The creative process helps people let go of specific expectations and embody a more playful mode. For individuals who do not work in creative professions, there may be few other outlets that offer this kind of fun and experimentation. The creative process also offers a chance to do some positive risk-taking. The stakes are low enough that it shouldn’t be too devastating when things don’t turn out quite as well as you hoped and at the same time, if things do turn out as you wished, this can impart a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

Self-Expression

The creative process opens up avenues for self-expression, allowing thoughts and emotions to flow freely. If you can get into a headspace that allows you to not judge what comes out, this can be cathartic, allowing you to release stress and emotions. Sometimes the activity can focus on exploring emotions around a particularly stressful situation. In just the way it’s helpful to talk things out in a therapy session, it can be very beneficial to use a non-verbal means to express your feelings about something.

Connecting to Cultural Traditions

Creative activities are a great way to connect to one’s cultural background. In Korean culture, origami (or jongi jupgi as it’s known in Korean), it’s common for children to be given stacks of colorful paper to make all kinds of animals and birds by folding paper. This is a practice in several Asian cultures and can be a creative activity that is also somewhat rote, allowing your mind to wander or allowing you to watch a show or movie while you do it. Other examples of creative activities from Asian cultures:

• Calligraphy

• Brush painting

• Drawing and/or coloring mandalas

• Ikebana (flower arrangement)

• Batik

Cultivating Mindfulness

Engaging in creative activities often involves being fully present in the moment. Whether you're sculpting clay, capturing a photograph, or experimenting in the kitchen, the act of creation requires mindfulness. This mindful presence promotes a sense of calm and grounding, often allowing us some respite from distractions. People who regularly engage in creative activities describe the process as meditative. In fact, if you’re a person who struggles with sitting or breath meditation, finding a creative activity that engages you might be a good mindful alternative to practice.

Flow State

Creative activities have the potential to induce a state of flow, characterized by deep immersion and complete absorption in the task. When individuals are in a flow state, they are fully engaged and focused on the creative process, losing track of time and distractions. Being able to access flow states is associated with reduced anxiety and stress as well as positive emotions and resilience.

Creative Exercises to Try

In my experience, the biggest barrier to trying to implement more creativity is that people often worry that their skills are not good enough. Regardless of how you feel about making art, such as drawing or painting, with some research and creativity, there's likely a creative outlet that’s right for you. Take a look at these accessible creative activities and give them a try. If they work well for you, it’s a good idea to incorporate them into your life on a regular basis.

1. Take photographs of things you find beautiful.

   You can use your phone or if you have one, a higher resolution camera. For extra playfulness, you might try a disposable film camera so you can see how your photos turned out after getting the photos developed. Give yourself some amount of time (30 minutes to a whole day) to walk around taking photos of things that strike you as remarkable in some way. When your only task is to look for beautiful things, your mood brightens and stress gets lower.

2. Make a collage.

   You can do this the old-fashioned way, with old magazines, or with a digital tool such as Canva or Adobe. Collage-making can serve a few different functions. For instance, if you’d like to explore your feelings around a recent conflict, collage can be a way to do that with found images. If you’re looking for general stress reduction and a mood boost, however, it can be helpful to simply focus on collaging images and text that represent joy or happiness for you.

3. Paint a branch or stick.

   The next time you go for a walk or hike, find a branch or stick that you like. Then, paint it with your choice of beautiful colors. Pinterest has an infinite number of examples you can use as models.

4. Draw with your non-dominant hand.

   Choose an object that has interesting shapes and shadows and then try drawing it with your non-dominant hand. Prepare for some laughs and pleasant surprises when you see the final product.

5. Free-write for 10 minutes.

   This writing exercise is not journaling with a purpose or prompt but simply allowing your stream of consciousness to show up on paper (or your computer). It doesn’t have to be coherent, have correct grammar or punctuation, be “good,” or be insightful. You’re simply allowing yourself time to freely write to see what comes out.