Wonderful Words for Wednesday

The Wonderful Words for this Wednesday are from a quote by Torie T. Asai:

“Creativity is Nothing but a Mind Set Free”

I shortened it a bit, actually by accident, but I think it was a happy accident.

Since May is Mental Health Awareness month, I’m excited to focus on how creativity positively impacts our mental health.  I feel very passionate about this subject!

Origin of Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness was started by the Mental Health America (MHA) organization in 1949.  Did you know that each year, this organization puts out a tool kit to help bring awareness and help to people regarding Mental Health issues?  I didn’t!  Pretty cool huh?   You can find this year’s and previous year’s toolkits from this Wikipedia article

What does Creativity Have to do with Mental Health?

Creativity plays a large role in keeping mentally healthy.  And before you stop reading because you don’t idenditfy as a ‘creative’ person, I’m talking EVERYONE. If this was your thought, you clearly need to read my former post on this subject.

I know this, in part, from my own experience through the Pandemic.  When the world shut down and we all shut in, I sat on the couch playing Scrabble on my phone with friends, family, and sometimes even strangers.   I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I spent a LOT of time awaiting people’s responses and taking my turns all throughout the day.  Pretty quickly I realized that this was NOT healthy.  I mean, it was kinda rediculous.

It was then that I turned to creativity.  I bought a book on brush calligraphy and tried my hand at this skill.  Using brush pens as a lefty was WAY more difficult than I anticipated, but I was determined, so I moved on to taking a free course on line and fell in love with modern calligraphy.

Pretty soon I discovered I could put this new skill to use in making personalized signs for others, and handmade cards for people’s birthdays etc.. The act of creating the sign or card while thinking about the person I was making it for got me out of my own head, and giving them out brought me a giddy joy I wasn’t experiencing in other parts of my life at the time.

Next, I moved on to playing with watercolors.  Oh how I love to play with water and color!  What I learned with this skill is that I can’t control the outcome.  I mean, to some extent you can control the water and color but a lot of times, it’s going to do something surprising you didn’t expect.  This put me in a problem solving mode and in an a state of acceptance for what ‘is’.  I came to love the unexpected results and to start the process with an open mindedness about what I was going to paint.  I learned to, literally, ‘go with flow’ of the water and color.

My Personal Discovery is Backed Up with Research

Here’s what Diversus Health says about being ‘in the flow’ from their article titled “The Mental Health Benefits of Creativity“:

“Creativity can put us in a flow state, meaning we become focused with optimal attention on a task or activity. This is sometimes called being “in the zone.” When we are in the zone, it can feel euphoric, and we become more mindful and relaxed. This flow state in creativity allows us to feel more positive and cultivates a sense of accomplishment.”

Also:

“Being creative can increase positive emotions, reduce depressive symptoms and anxiety, and improve the function of our immune systems. The Journal of Positive Psychology supports these findings, stating that “spending time on creative goals during the day is associated with higher activated positive affect.” Positive affect refers to positive moods people experience including joy, happiness, and optimism.”

There’s a LOT more research on this topic, but the take away here is that being creative is a legit way to increase a positive mindset, and who doesn’t need that in a daily dose?

More on my Story of Creativity

The joy of accessing my creativity spurred me to create this BLOG and my business “Play Art With Kim”.

My goal is to share the joy of playing art with others, ESPECIALLY those who don’t think they are ‘creative’.  We all are creative.  I believe that once you access this creativity, you’ll begin to make time for it daily, and as a byproduct, decrease stress and toxic thoughts, and increase mindfulness and positivity.

Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!  Now, Go FORTH, Play Art & Spread Joy!

Kimberly Snider, Virtuoso, Signing off

Website:

https://playartwithkim.com