“The discipline of creation, be it to paint, compose, write, is an effort toward wholeness,” Madeleine L’Engle wrote once. It’s a lesson I learned in a new way over 42 days.
This past Christmas was coming at a stressful time for me personally, and I was dreading the month’s ups and downs. A fresh new year was ahead, but I had to get through December first, somehow.
That’s when a counsellor friend of mine suggested I embrace my creative side.
“Let’s see this Christmas as a season for creativity,” he texted to me. “How about we create a list of creative things for you to do/experience for six weeks or so. 42 different creative ideas for you (six weeks’ worth) …”
Does it sound a bit schmaltzy? Maybe. But even beginning to brainstorm a project made me feel calmer. And by the end of the six weeks, I had painted, written, drawn, sewn, recorded, designed and made all kinds of new things that I hadn’t before. (And Spotlight got visited a bunch.)
It turns out that there is a powerful link between creativity and resilience. When we cultivate a creative mindset, it’s easier to think about problems, bounce back from failure and even process grief. And while it may not solve what’s going wrong, and even if you don’t have much time to spare, there’s evidence creativity can bolster your health and wellbeing to face the world.
Here’s how.
Creativity grows constructive thinking.
Creativity is built around making new connections – the old clichéof “thinking outside the box”. When you’re thinking beyond what’s before you, you can see the root of the problem with a new perspective. More technically, it’s “divergent thinking”.
When you cultivate a creative mindset, you are more likely to see challenges from a range of perspectives. This means you’re more likely to expect multiple solutions and think more flexibly about problem-solving.
Creativity also requires a growth mindset – allowing for failure, trial and error. This is invaluable for other parts of life.
Creativity makes meaning.
You wouldn’t expect to see creativity and resilience linked in a concentration camp, but Viktor Frankl says otherwise. After experiencing atrocities in the camps of WWII, Frankl wrote extensively on the search for meaning in life. Having a “why” to live, he believed, was enough to help many people endure all kinds of human suffering.
Frankl’s three key methods for finding meaning were:
- By creating a work or doing a deed.
- By experiencing something orencountering someone.
- By the attitude that we take towardunavoidable suffering.
Creativity is most obviously captured in the first element – but it can be extended to any of the three. Frankl’s advice was to focus on what you can create that’s meaningful, in spite of where you are at. It’s effective in processing grief, for example.
Making something new each day, or every few days, made me feel like I was contributing something meaningful, even on bad days.
At the same time, our prefrontal cortex is temporarily deactivated in flow. This means you can simply be and do, without self-consciousness or judgment.
Primed for creativity, you are in a relaxed state and what we call “being in the zone”. This kind of immersion is good for lowering stress.
Creativity requires focus.
James McMullen wrote a lyrical piece about drawing, where he writes:
Drawing is a process of engagement for the artist, a period of both time and struggle that pulls the artist deeply and intensely into his subject and his ideas.
This is what can be described as “flow”,where our minds enter an optimal state of consciousness. Our brains areordinarily in a fast-moving state of beta waves. But in flow, our brainwaves slow to an alpha state – known as our daydreaming and meditation mode. It’s here that ideas easily begin to combine in new and unusual ways.
Creativity helps you express yourself
Perhaps the most obvious, but still important part of creativity: expression.
Sitting down to be creative can help you bridge the logical andemotional parts of your feelings. When you can’t put into words how you’re feeling, more abstract pursuits can help “verbalise” where you’re at – whether you’re experiencing intense happiness or deep grief.
This puts you in touch with your emotions, but also gives you a healthy and safe outlet to show them.
Ways to boost your creativity (and resilience
One final thought. Picking up a paintbrush and creating something actually felt enjoyable, even though I had zero talents. Call it a dopamine rush or just getting in touch with your inner kid – but I just felt stronger.
It’s no accident that hospitals have started using art therapy to help patients recover. It’s showing results that continue to link creativity and resilience.
Music therapy has been shown to decrease anxiety and reduce heart rate; visual arts can reduce depression; and movement-based creativity could help improve body image. Expressive writing even helped boost the immune system and promotes release of negative feelings.
Today, it’s easy to see creativity as just escapism, but it seems to have much more to it than that. Maybe it’s time to start taking creativity more seriously as an important part of healthy living, particularly at rough times.
If you need a boost, here are some suggestions of creative projects you can try to boost your creativity and resilience:
- Draw a self-portrait. Include words to describe who you are.
- Pick up a musical instrument you’ve been neglecting.
- Buy paints and a sketchbook and create a still life.
- Create a family tree—ask family members to draw their own portraits on the tree.
- Make a collage with pictures cut out of magazines.
- Do a drawing with a friend, child, grandchild, or spouse.
- Take photos.
- Learn needlepoint, quilting, crocheting or knitting.
- Buy fabric paint and paint on T-shirts.
