Whether it’s the devastating results of the election, the relentless pinging of our cell phones, the onslaught of distressing news, or the weight of our to-do lists, many of us are having a hard time with self-care right now.
Traditional forms of protecting our well-being and happiness—like getting enough sleep, eating healthy, staying hydrated, meditating, and exercising—can feel like a real slog and, let’s face it, are difficult to manage when our bodies and minds are fried. Then, because being stressed out isn’t enough, we judge ourselves for eating that cookie or watching too many YouTube compilations on the genius of “The Golden Girls,” as if harsh self-criticism will somehow give us the discipline we need to make ourselves happier.
That’s when it may be time to pick up a paintbrush, doodle, write in a journal, or dust off that crochet hook.
Did you know that small acts of creativity can boost mood and bust stress? Research shows that engaging in creative activity can help us feel better in ways similar to meditation and light exercise. It provides a respite from the daily grind, serves as a gateway to exploring and processing emotions, and allows you to become absorbed in a flow where nothing else seems to matter. And crafting activities like decorating a cake or knitting a hat can help ease symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Tapping into your creativity can help you:
- Discover and release emotions that you have trouble articulating. Painting, photography, and music can act as direct channels into our emotional states. Journaling and doodling can uncover stresses previously hidden from our awareness.
- Produce a state a flow where you become so absorbed in what you’re doing that you forget time—and yourself. There’s a reason grandma was always knitting afghans and baby socks. It was probably to get out of her own head for a bit.
- Improve cognition and problem-solving as you approach challenges using different perspectives. Why did the souffle fall? Why are the wings on my paper crane uneven? What can I do next time to make it better?
- Build resilience as you learn to embrace the uncertainty of a creative project, cope with failures, or simply learn to embrace imperfection.
Put simply, making something beautiful or uniquely your own nourishes the mind, body, and soul.
I can hear the chorus of naysayers chanting, “But we’re not the creative type.” But let me ask you this: Do you think everyone started making their own bread during the pandemic because there was a worldwide bread shortage? No. People wanted to create. Everyone can create. You can, too.
To enjoy the soul-nourishing benefits of creativity, you don’t have to wear a beret and perform a three-hour spoken jazz poetry odyssey for us. In fact, please don’t. Simply start small and find something you like to do, like woodworking, cooking, playing with Legos, origami, building model airplanes, decorating your Christmas tree with ornaments you made from Pez dispensers, or singing to your dog. Then relax, let go of your perfectionism, enjoy, and remember that we’re not shooting for a masterpiece here. The Louvre can wait.
Let’s just try to find more ways to stay sane in an insane world.
