BalanceMayIssue2017 - 32

Psychology

CREATIVITY
the cure?
IS

Harnessing
inspiration
can make you
happier, less
stressed and
more confident.
Elizabeth
Bennett
reveals why
committing
to a creative
pursuit might
be the best
decision you
ever make...

hen was the last time you were
truly creative? As in, genuinely
creative. We don't mean folding
the laundry in a different way or
mowing the lawn in horizontal
stripes. But that's a start.
If you look back at your childhood, your
happiest moments were probably spent throwing
paint around, building forts, or attempting to form
a band. For children, using imagination is a key
part of everyday life. However, as we get

W

the term 'Flow' - argues that our
self- coined
best moments occur when 'a person's body
mind is stretched to its limits in a
expression orvoluntary
effort to accomplish something

older we are more likely to spend our
precious free time bingeing on box sets,
or scrolling social media rather than
practising a hobby. Creativity, it seems,
could be better for us than Game Of
Thrones or commenting on message threads.
With society's stress levels at an all-time high
- stress accounted for 45% of all working days lost to
ill health in 2015 - could creativity be the remedy?
Research shows that people who regularly engage
with an artistic hobby have higher overall life
satisfaction than those who don't.

FLOW WITH IT
illustration by
L AUR ÈNE PIJU

32

de-stress. A US study found that college students
who completed creative projects saw a decrease in
anxiety levels. This is because when we partake in
creative activities we are engaged in what experts
describe as a sense of 'Flow'. As psychologist
Elaine Slater explains: 'This can put us in a nearmeditative state where we lose track of time and
feel removed from the stressors of life.'
While you may think that you're happiest when
lying on the sofa, research suggests otherwise.
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - who

Being creative, whether that's writing, gardening
or playing an instrument, helps us to relax and

BALANCE May 2017

difficult and worthwhile'.
With the average person spending 25
hours online a week, engaging in a creative activity
provides a much-needed screen break. Spending
just an hour or two each week working on a project
can offer a deep sense of satisfaction and build
self-confidence in a way that Netflix never will. This
is what Carrie Barron, author of The Creativity Cure
(£13.57, Scribner Book Company) calls the 'I did it!'
phenomenon. Carrie says: 'So much of daily living in
a tech culture involves solving with a click. Longer
processes, though they can be messy, unclear and



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