As a creative-minded person, I get ideas ALL the time. Now, anybody could say “well I get ideas all the time too…?” The ideas I’m referring to always seem to revolve around the concept of creating, making something that has yet to exist, bringing imagination to life.
For most people, an idea for something new or interesting may pop into their head here and there, but unfortunately for myself, it’s more like a never-ending stream of this and that, ideas big and small, realistic and totally out of this world.
Having always had this stream of ideas, as a child I would benefit from it by drawing what came to my mind, creating crafts, acting out characters, singing, dancing – you get the idea. Now, however, in adulthood I find that though my stream of ideas is flowing faster than ever, having the ambition to bring said ideas to life just isn’t there anymore. And after having talked with a handful of other creative-minded folks, the lack of creative ambition seems to be a trend. Could this be due to a societal perspective on the worth of creating as adults? Could this be personal fear of not being “good enough” to create what we envision? Could we all just be overwhelmed with life in general?
These questions and this trend of lacking creative ambition began to mount 6 months into pandemic lockdowns, and with nothing to do at home but sit and think – I pushed myself to get to work on reviving that childhood enthusiasm to create. In doing so, I discovered there was a science behind the art of creating and a slew of healthy benefits by just pushing yourself to explore your imaginative mind a little each day. Through research, I discovered that not only was creating something every day a bigger benefit to your mental/emotional health than many of us know, but making time to create every day and establishing a routine to rely upon helped to alleviate stress and anxiety in major ways.
According to Nina Nelson, in her article 4 Benefits of Daily Creativity, I found that creating SOMETHING (quite literally anything – a doodle, a new recipe, a melody) every day can help make you a better problem solver, increase and direct your focus, strengthen your self-awareness, and generate more desire to share/give.
On top of these benefits, by establishing a daily routine wherein you are planning time to create during the day, you can actually:
- Lower your stress levels
- Form healthy daily habits
- Be more conscious of your health
- Feel more productive
- Be more focused
Learning these facts during the peak of lockdown anxiety helped me refocus my creative intentions and push past the fear of potentially “failing”, finally giving way to my stream of ideas. I forced myself to sit down with pen and paper in hand and sketch. Just sketch anything – whatever came to mind first. And I did. And it felt good; I found there was peace in creativity.
Since that first day of forcing myself to create, I have found that I am better at more things than I thought – allowing myself to explore the worlds of painting, baking, and more. My anxiety has dissipated, my stress is more manageable. And I find I am enjoying being myself more – embracing the singing, dancing kid from my childhood and letting him try to make gluten-free banana bread.
So I encourage you to take the plunge – dive into your creative mind and make yourself make time to create. Set up a schedule, allow yourself to daydream, and see what ideas come to mind. Create anything and find your peace in the process. I promise you might like it!
– Travis
