‍This blog post was written by Kristen Peairs, Nutritionist and Meditation Facilitator at Nivati. You can see more of their content on the Nivati platform and on the Nivati blog. If you want to learn more about Nivati, click here. 

Creativity is an innate part of the human experience. From the clothes we choose to how we organize our day, we naturally dip in and out of creative thinking while living our life.

Everybody is creative in some way.

In my last article, How Creativity Can Boost Your Mental Health, we explored how creativity and mental health go together. We talked about research findings and provided examples of how creativity supports healing from the stresses and traumas of life.

In this article, we zoom in on ways to grow our creativity. Whether we want to grow our creativity at work, home, or anywhere else, the strategies listed below will help.

Like any other skill, creativity can be learned, enhanced, and expanded when we know how to go about doing it.

What helps creativity grow? Let’s take a look!

Schedule Unwind Time

Make time. Put yourself in a space to mentally, physically, and emotionally unwind. Use different strategies for different occasions. Nap. Daydream. Doodle. Walk in nature. Meditate. Jump on a trampoline. Hit a pillow. All of these activities can help our brain and body unwind from the thoughts and tasks that have come before. Just 5 minutes of doing any of these activities can make the difference in our ability to be available for the next great idea to hit at work or anywhere else.

If our mind is still spinning from the content of the last meeting or our heart is overwhelmed with emotional news from a co-worker, it’s hard to be fully present for whatever comes next. Unwind time helps clear space so something new can drop in.

What if the first unwind strategy we try doesn’t work? We try something else. Sometimes coloring in an adult coloring book, following a guided breathing practice, or doing fifty push-ups provides the break needed for the reset to occur. As we unwind, we invite our creativity to help us think, feel, consider, and act.

‍Choose Non-Conformity

Metaphorically speaking, turning left when we usually turn right sets us up for new experiences and new brain pathways. New brain pathways foster new brain connections, and new brain connections make it less likely we’ll drop into what psychologists' call “functional fixedness.” Functional fixedness refers to when we become so used to thinking about a thing in a certain way that we can no longer think of other uses for it. An example of functional fixedness is when a person believes a spoon is only an eating utensil. The In truth, a spoon is also a musical instrument, a tiny shovel, and an artist’s canvas. Breaking the habit of thinking about something in the same way we always have is an act of nonconformity.

Non-conformity also refers to when we choose to do, say, or think something different than our family’s, social groups, communities, or culture’s “normal way.” It takes courage to step outside of the habits and norms we live within, but the payoff is that we stretch our brain and develop new neural connections, which, in turn, grows our creativity.

Whether we originally adopted our habits because they “just made sense” or because “it’s always been done that way,” pausing to assess alternative viewpoints can change everything.

Behaviors as simple as how we eat our cereal or as complex as how we approach a problem can all change. If we choose differently, we experience differently, which is good for our brain and its ability to be resilient along the bumpy road of life.

Embrace the Mess

In a world where value is placed on the aesthetic and everything being organized and put in the correct place, let yourself embrace the mess. Creativity often happens by playing outside the confines of routines and habits. When we extend ourselves beyond the bounds of what we’re used to, there is almost always some level of chaos that awaits. It’s the chaos that stirs our brain to make new connections as it attempts to understand, structure, and find a way through.

When we choose to stay engaged with our goal while setting aside the idea that the mess is wrong or bad, we create space for creativity to blossom.

Stay Open

“Staying open” can also be referred to as “refraining from judging.”

It’s natural to fear and/or judge what we don’t know. It can be super easy to pick a side, proclaiming, “I’m right, you’re wrong, and that’s just the way it is.” In these situations, staying open might mean we pause and then choose to be curious through asking questions. Listening carefully to the replies we’re offered can help us gain new insight and knowledge. It’s not always important whether we agree or disagree with what’s being said. Learning a new perspective for the sake of learning is valuable.

Transmute the Struggle

Oh, the struggle! As human beings, it’s typical to experience stress, pain, and problems throughout the course of our lives. Even when the issues aren’t directly ours, it’s still easy to become swept up in family, culture, or world issues. Without outlets, pain and stress often build up and accumulate, creating stressed minds, frazzled nerves, and achy bodies.

One way to help ourselves move through the stress is to engage our creativity in order to transmute the stress into something else.

What exactly do I mean? Let me share a personal example.

It can be really hard to go on with my day when I’m feeling anxious. A strategy I’ve learned to successfully move through anxiety in order to have more focus is as follows.

1. I draw a stick figure on a piece of paper.

2. I add the face of the stick figure to reflect how I currently feel.

3. I put squiggly lines and scribbles on the areas of the stick figure that represent where I feel the anxiety in my body. Sometimes I color those areas, too.

4. Then, I draw a second stick figure and give that one a face that reflects how I want to feel. Sometimes, I’ll draw extra details like heart, hair, or clothes on the stick figure.

5. Besides the stick figure, I write the question, “What’s my next step here?”

6. I pause to see if an idea pops into my head, and even if one doesn’t, doing my drawings leaves me feeling happier and more relaxed – allowing me to move on with my day.

Transmuting the physical pain, emotion, feeling, or thought into something else can help change our experience of what’s going on. Whether we write poems, draw stick figures, cook treats, or make music, we can use our creativity to shift discomfort into something easier and more manageable.

What’s your next step?

Creativity and mental health go together. Growing your creativity will grow your mental health too. Where do you want to start?

Disclaimer

By participating in/reading the service/website/blog/email series on this website, you acknowledge that this is a personal website/blog and is for informational purposes and should not be seen as mental health care advice. You should consult with a licensed professional before you rely on this website/blog’s information. All things written on this website should not be seen as therapy treatment and should not take the place of therapy or any other health care or mental health advice. Always seek the advice of a mental health care professional or physician. The content on this blog is not meant to and does not substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.