Finding Happiness Through Creativity
How creative activities can make us happier.
A New Zealand-based study examined how ”engaging in creative activities helps contribute to an ”upward spiral” of positive emotions, psychological well-being, and feelings of flourishing in life. It found that creating and expressing ourselves gives us a sense of purpose and helps us feel more enthusiastic and energized.
Taking part in creative pursuits was also found to lower stress and anxiety and improve our physical and mental health. In the study, creative undertakings were also found to increase and improve resilience and curiosity levels. Make time to let your creative side breathe. You don’t have to be an artist to exercise your creative muscles-simply undertaking small acts of creativity, like reading a book or trying out a new recipe, can help increase your happiness and well-being.
The fundamental nature of happiness is that it is relative. The more great experiences we have, the more we become dull to their greatness. We’re wired to get bored with things that are objectively incredible. What’s worse- if we’re always in pursuit of the next best thing, we’ll never truly be satiated. That once amazing song you found and played on repeat loses its magic on the hundredth listen. A food critic could spend their life tasting the finest dishes the world has to offer, and get bored of food altogether. Doesn’t it seem that sometimes the people who have the most are the most miserable? Wisdom and experience tells us that the answer is gratitude. By mindfully recognizing and appreciating the good things in our lives we will become happier. But gratitude can only do so much.
Truly experiencing the delights the world has to offer ironically requires that we have the discipline to say no to them sometimes. That we become more conscious of the true cost of saying yes to every little experience and goody. Saying no to more things and being more selective in our pleasures can make otherwise mundane experiences feel special, and special experiences feel magical.
