Having a creative outlet can help manage stress by giving you a way to express yourself while providing a source of self-esteem. Developing your creativity is a great way to break up the monotony of your daily routines, release frustration, and find more peace in your life.
Being a creative person can also help you find new solutions to the problems that are causing feelings of stress and overwhelm in the first place. Creativity is positive, it’s hope; it is confidence that you can improve things.
Being a creative person has several other benefits. You will have more opportunities at work and in your career. When things break you’ll come up with temporary and permanent solutions without having to spend money on replacements or hire professionals to repair.
In your search for your creative spark, you may discover talents you didn’t realize you possessed, new activities that bring fun and excitement into your life, and new ways to relax and rejuvenate.
Try these ideas for developing your own creative outlet:
- Delve into activities you enjoy. What have you enjoyed doing in the past? Have you noticed that you have a knack for drawing, writing, painting, sewing, or making jewelry? Try some of the same things that have allowed you to be creative in the past.
- If you aren’t sure about a particular creative outlet, start small. Avoid buying everything you need to really explore the new skill until you’re certain that you’ve found something you’d like to stick with.
- Take a class. If you can’t easily think of a creative outlet on your own, consider taking a class, seminar, or workshop. You can try a variety of different creative arts from basket weaving to painting, from photography to belly dance.
- Check your local college campuses, arts and crafts stores and continuing education schools to find weekend workshops and evening classes that teach these activities.
- Write or journal. Writing and journaling can be a great creative outlet, whether you’re free writing about your day or putting your feelings into words in the form of poetry or song.
- You don’t have to become a published author to use writing as a productive creative outlet. If expressing your feelings on paper feels good to you, just enjoy the process.
- Create gifts for others instead of buying them. Experiment with a myriad of different creative outlets by making things for the people that you love. Shoot a homemade video message, bake cookies, write a poem, draw a picture or handcraft a piece of jewelry for someone you care about.
- Not only do these tasks allow you to use creativity to deal with feelings and emotions, but they also let you share a part of yourself with people who are important to you.
- Brainstorm. When faced with a problem ask questions. Take notes on paper if you can.
- What is the source of the problem? Can the source be adjusted so the problem is eliminated?
- Get input from others. Look on the web if a solution exists or how others managed the problem.
- Is the problem similar to other situations? How were those situations dealt with?
- What is the absolute worst thing that can happen if the problem is not dealt with? Can the result be minimized or managed?
- Pretend you don’t have the problem but someone you know does. How would you advise someone going through the same thing?
These ideas are just a starting point. There are plenty of other options for you to pursue on your own. Your creative outlet can be anything that you want it to be, as long as you get joy from it. Simply find something that brings you pleasure and use it as your creative outlet. If you do this, you can find joy and peace in every day.
