Are they people who have the freedom to pursue their art, are
they people who value their freedom- freelancers and artists? What about you?
All of us are creative as a child, as we get trained more
and more in our schools we all fall for the mundane, we forget who we are and
become what we are expected to be.
Creativity as it seems comes with a price, in her article Nancy C.
Andreasen, who is the Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at the
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and the former editor in chief
of The American Journal of Psychiatry talks about creative people
having it either passed on via generations or have higher rates of mental
illness “The creative subjects and their relatives have a higher rate of mental
illness….The most-common diagnoses include bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety
or panic disorder, and alcoholism.
There could be extreme cases of eccentricities involved for
a lot of creatives, however in regular life to extract more satisfaction from
life creativity is of utter importance. It could be an author who breaks into
the publishing scene and takes the world by storm like J. K. Rowling., it can
be content creators who look at life differently and are able to replicate that
in their content and gain huge followers through the social media platform, it
can be poets like Rupi Kaur whose poetry has been in controversies but has
rightly brought in the young generation in touch with themselves through words
and not selfies.
So, where is creativity for you and me while we are part of
regular jobs?
Well, creativity still needs sustenance and that could mean
the fact you have a job is a good thing. You are free to spend here and there for
things you love to engage in like a local pottery class or take a class or
travel. Creativity isn’t limited to a certain profession any longer. And as it
turns out “depending on the stage of the creative process, and what you’re
actually attempting to create, different brain regions are recruited to handlethe task.”
So creativity is not only a breath of fresh air it’s
actually good for the brain health. Multiple ways we can still encourage
ourselves to be creative:
- Find out what interests you, mind mapping is a great technique to find out what you like
- Learn/practice something new – It’s said that creatives are better self-learners than learning from others by being spoon fed. If you are looking for great deals, find out the offerings/giveaways of bloggers as well. You might get a month free or sometimes courses half off.
- Find the time for yourself (self-care), sabbaticals might not be for everyone however why not try remote working once a month and use the time for commutes to try out something new..
- It doesn’t have to be perfect to start with, its okay to fail. I struggle with this a lot because I feel I have to be at par with the best. Over the years I am okay to try out something new even when I know its not at its best.
- Stop thinking about what others think while you plan a solo vacation. Do things what interests you. Here are 12 habits of successful creatives.
(Pic courtesy: Google Images)
