Channeling your stress into creativity
Creativity can unlock our imaginations, distract us from our feelings of stress and anxiety, and even prompt our brains to secrete feel-good chemicals. It can be challenging to find that spark at the best of times but in the middle of a pandemic when we are experiencing anxiety and stress is that even possible?
Creativity can be a survival strategy
Humankind has been creative since the days when we lived in caves, that tells you three things!
- It’s in our bones/DNA.
- You don’t need lots of fancy or expensive equipment to be creative.
- You don’t need to be talented!!
Right now you are probably either working from home with bedlam raging around you or your working all day in a highly charged situation, coming home to tidying up, cooking dinner and barely having time to unwind before going to bed and doing it all again.
Either way your idea of creativity is probably not much more than putting your make up on or choosing an outfit. You don’t have time for this nonsense you have a job, a family and we are in the middle of a pandemic!! Good point, but stress and anxiety need an outlet, alcohol and shouting at the cat will only work for so long, so stick with me, you never know this might just be fun and it might lead to a new hobby/outlet for your stress.
Art in all it’s forms
One day Mrs Cavewoman said to Mr Caveman “where have you been, it’s dark and pubs won’t be invented for another hundred thousand years yet!!” And Mr Caveman tried unsuccessfully to tell Mrs Cavewoman about the Hunt and ART was born!
And we have been using Art in all its forms to communicate our feelings, emotions. longings, desires, and everything else in our heads, hearts, and souls ever since.
Wow that is a lot for all those images, sculptures, songs, films, words, and pasta/glitter fridge pictures to try and tell us!
Those of us who normally bimble through our lives admiring other’s interpretations of art, but rarely give a thought to what ours would look like, might just have wondered in the past eight long months, I wonder? I wonder if I put pen to paper would an epic poem flow, would the next amazing but gritty crime thriller shoot its way across the page taking prisoners and frankly scaring the beejesus out of everyone you know!
Why don’t you
You know what, you will never know sat there staring at a screen! No, don’t go yet! You need to decide, to just say I’m going to do something, walk into another room, clear a bit of space and get noodles, paper, cardboard, plastic, pencils. Your phone can do a hundred thousand things. You can use make up to change your look, get your partner to do your make up! Just make something, do something, it doesn’t matter how awful, ugly, terrible it is, it is yours, own it!
Never, ever think about creating something good. You won’t be able to, because good or perfect is generally boring, it chocolate box dull. Just go for it, write, draw, paint, take photos whatever you feel like doing. But whatever it is don’t think of it as a waste of time, don’t think of it as something to show all your friends or family this is work, it’s just for you. Then it’s not wasting time it’s spending it with yourself creating and interrupting the world around your or your feelings about the world.
Does that sound like a load of old rubbish!
Had a bad day? come home get your pens and some paper, sit at a table then put the pen on the paper, take a deep breath and let then pen move back and forwards, back and forwards no one is watching. Let the pen be anger, let it race back and forward and round and round. You and do this over and over, sooner or later you will be able to slow the pen down and take a look at the video below this is called neurographics drawing it can really help you to unwind and meditate.
Do you have some paints and brushes?
Ok that’s a great why not have a look at some of these, they are really easy, very calming and great fun projects to have a go at. If there is something you don’t have like a canvas use paper, the right kind of paint you can use poster paint.
Don’t spend a fortune on supplies Home Bargains do acrylic paints for 99p and if you do want to try canvas painting, they start at £1.28. Lots of cheap shops like these have wool, crafting supplies, paints, brushes, everything you need to get started and YouTube is your best friend for free tutorials!
If you find a good one that you think others might like to let us know on the Facebook page in the comments section. Have a look through the videos there are lots of great starters to get you going and Facebook is full of groups of like-minded people.
No Materials?
That’s ok check out some of these videos you don’t need materials, a pen, your mind or a phone will do you! There is creativity in all things you just have to use your imagination!
I hope these give you some ideas to be creative, the most important thing is to make the leap. Just pick a moment, I spent ages watching Instagram crafting videos and then Pinterest videos about acrylic paint pouring which is so much messy fun! You can do this alone, with your kids, your partner or friends, you can keep it up after pandemic, you could build a side business out of it! Have you seen the amount of people doing resin flower jewellery/coasters/Ring holders etc.
But you have to take a leap, go on do it!
