Get creative, we’re told: it will boost your mood, improve your brain function, and help alleviate anxiety. So why does it sometimes feel as if trying to be creative is actually making us more anxious and depressed? When did creativity get so pressurised? Nowadays we’re expected to ‘be creative’ at work all day and then get creative after hours as well – our meals, our décor, even our dates are supposed to buzzing with creativity. Honestly, it’s exhausting.
Some say the key is getting into a ‘flow state’. The term was coined by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi who found that creativity happens most easily and effectively when we are totally caught up in a task, performing it with serenity and rapt focus. It bears a striking resemblance to the Chinese concept of wu wei which translates as ‘effortless action’ or ‘action of non-action’.
The problem is that our modern lives aren’t remotely conducive to getting into flow. Distraction is its major enemy and heaven knows we’re distracted all the time. I often sit at my desk, desperately trying to write with my mind skittering all over the place. Emails and DMs pop in; I think I’ll spend a couple of minutes on Twitter and an hour passes in a daze of doom scrolling.
I find the only way to drop into flow is to go Stone Age. I shut down my browser, I hide my phone, and I stick a good oldfashioned ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ notice on my study door (when I worked in an office I’d put on headphones to drown out the chat).
Mindfulness is a close cousin to flow so, if I’m still struggling, I settle for bringing mindful attention to what I’m doing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I often wonder whether all this insistence on creativity can be counterproductive.
Are we sucking all the joy out of creativity, all the fun? I have a strong suspicion creativity is becoming yet another stick with which to beat ourselves; another way to make ourselves feel bad. My suggestion? Get playful, embrace imperfection, make mistakes. Don’t try so darn hard. I once spent a year in an art therapy group and the cardinal rule was not to paint ‘properly’. We would shut our eyes and paint; we’d dance and paint; we’d paint with our non-dominant hands. We’d make mess. Because being creative is often messy – it’s spontaneous; it doesn’t attach itself to outcomes; it’s a process not an end result.
It’s a dance of creative ease. I also give you full permission to have time off from creativity. Sometimes it’s more than fine to cook a bog standard meal, to slump in front of the TV rather than trying to whip up a wildly spontaneous piece of art. Creativity is intoxicating but who lives in a constant state of intoxication? We need some lows to feel the highs. Let’s all just relax a bit and chill.
Jane’s book Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living (Kyle Books, £14.99) is available now. Follow her on social media as @exmoorjane
