Reflections, rest and celebration – Creativity

Another important part of this day is to access your creativity. Creativity feeds the feelings interest and joy and hence increase positive emotions which often also increase wellbeing. It is also a mindful activity where the essence is being in the here and now. Creative activities can also impact how you view yourself as well as give a sense of mastery, se post from Friday about self-concepts. The activities can both be singular events and more routine-like behaviour.
Typical activities are engaging in crafts or why not try something new: a new sport that looks fun or arts such as clay, beads, painting, sketching, gardening, cooking or baking? The important thing is to start doing it now/soon – not to postpone it, so it risks getting lost in busy daily routines.

Why not read a book about a topic that interests you but that you have not yet prioritized? Many of us have a stack of books to be read. Now can be that moment. Few things can alter our perspectives and give insights as much as reading. Also, the writing exercises posted earlier can be of value. Test writing about 5 themes where you would like to explore your thinking and just use a few minutes on each:
The meaning of my life is…
What I think is important in life is…
For me important values are…. I appreciate…
I would like to try…

Often we surprise ourselves with the answers which in itself can be an enriching experience.
One way to get more creativity in your daily life routines is to make a continuous effort to try new and different things: walk a different path from your home, eat something you would not normally choose, at a place you have not been – picknick? etc.

Hence, there are many dimensions to creativity. It can be about creative activities, about having a creative mindset as well as actual creative cognitive thinking processes. One important routine is to refrain from evaluating/criticising performance and ideas while in your creative mode. In brainstorming this is done by refraining to criticise ideas until you have made up 20 suggestions, i.e. separating the brainstorming process from the evaluation.

#creativityexercises #creativity