“Being creative gives us opportunities to try out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. Creative activities help us acknowledge and celebrate our own uniqueness and diversity. Creativity encourages self-expression, a way to create something from personal feelings and experiences.” (Life Labs, 2017).

Research shows that creating art and focusing our attention on details offers us a sense of relaxation similar to the experience of meditation. Concentrating on a creative project releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter related to focus, motivation, and reward as well as memory. Creating takes us out of comparison and self-criticism and into a more self-compassionate and positive mindset. Creating distracts us from our worries and helps us focus our attention on positive emotions, which reduces the amount of cortisol (a.k.a., the stress hormone) being released into our bloodstream. Engaging in novel activities and finding new solutions activate different regions of the brain than those involved in routine activities or known problems. This results in new neural pathways and synaptic connections which contributes to cognitive and psychological resilience. Research has also shown that everyday creativity is a means of cultivating positive psychological functioning and is associated with “flourishing”, or having an overall sense of engagement, purpose, meaning, and social connection in our lives (Conner et al., 2016). Creativity improves quality of life in multiple dimensions!

Being creative gives us opportunities to try out new ideas, and new ways of thinking and problem-solving. Creative activities help us acknowledge and celebrate our own uniqueness and diversity. Creativity encourages self-expression, a way to create something from personal feelings and experiences.” (Life Labs, 2017).

Research shows that creating art and focusing our attention on details offers us a sense of relaxation similar to the experience of meditation. Concentrating on a creative project releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter related to focus, motivation, and reward as well as memory. Creating takes us out of comparison and self-criticism and into a more self-compassionate and positive mindset. Creating distracts us from our worries and helps us focus our attention on positive emotions, which reduces the amount of cortisol (a.k.a., the stress hormone) being released into our bloodstream. Engaging in novel activities and finding new solutions activate different regions of the brain than those involved in routine activities or known problems. This results in new neural pathways and synaptic connections which contributes to cognitive and psychological resilience. Research has also shown that everyday creativity is a means of cultivating positive psychological functioning and is associated with “flourishing”, or having an overall sense of engagement, purpose, meaning, and social connection in our lives (Conner et al., 2016). Creativity improves quality of life in multiple dimensions!