Creativity Leads to Happiness
I recently read an article that suggested that the key to happiness is two–fold: 1) show compassion to others and 2) celebrate creativity. The author suggested that if we are feeling down, frustrated or just not happy about life, these are the things that we can focus on to lift us out of the doldrums. We should seek out someone who is in need and find a way to serve. We should also try to find some specific way that we can be creative.
The article I mentioned above goes on to say…
“What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fears of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you – whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.
If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.”
Think about how you can be creative today. Don’t let the fear of perfection get in the way of you creating something. What will you do?
Ways I love to be creative……
What gives me the most satisfaction and peace is serving someone else and knowing that even though what I might have done to help was such a small insignificant thing it was enough to bring a smile to their face, a feeling of hope and happiness and a sense of belonging.
I like to dabble in my Photoshop, It is such an involved program and I feel I have not even broken the surface yet, I still have so much to learn, but every time I dabble in it and create something, even if I am not at all happy with what I have created or it has not turned out how I had hoped, I always have the satisfaction that I have learnt something new that I did not know I could do the day before. Most of the time what I learn in the program is completely by accident just by experimenting with this tool, action or gradient and with every creation I learn a little bit more about the program, this gives me a great deal of satisfaction.
I can’t express enough about the feeling of accomplishment, pride in oneself and satisfaction you get from learning a new skill or anything in anyway new that you did not know, by reading, doing, or just interacting with others, listening and keeping an open mind to any possibility.
Another way I like to create is to make handmade personalised cards for friends, family and others for any occasion or just to brighten someone’s day.
I love playing tennis, I will never be a pro, but the sense of achievement I get from playing my best and improving my game as much as possible is a form of creativity that gives me a great deal of happiness, satisfaction, pride and accomplishment like no other.
I like to cook and bake things from scratch, the process of starting with the basic ingredients, combining them and watching the end result evolve, and then relishing the homemade taste.
I also get a great feeling of accomplishment from just doing all the mundane every day things and creating order in my life and being organised. I can’t help but feel happy and at peace when my life feels that it is in order even if it is not necessarily so.
The most important rule of creativity is DON’T BE YOUR OWN WORST CRITIC and if you think that is too hard a task, bring out the inner child inside you and remember back to childhood when you created the most simplistic creations and the feelings of pride and accomplishment you had when you were praised for them or told how clever you were, then give YOURSELF the praise you deserve and tell yourself over and over, how clever you are, and never stop until you believe.