How Crafting Can Keep Your Creativity Alive
- Leia Emeera
- Jul 25, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Creativity is a characteristic that anyone can harbour, artist or not. It’s a trait that can be applied to different circumstances, enriching them. People say that creativity is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. However, the more you get into routines of mundanity, the easier it is to fall into a routine that limits your creative thinking.
This article explores how crafting can help you nurture your creativity, its benefits, and some hands-on activities.
Table of Contents
Why Creativity Fades Over Time
Whether you are working in a creative industry or not, creativity can fade over time. There are several factors why this is the case:
Responsibilities and routine that don’t allow exploring or time for other activities
Fear of failure when starting something new or different
Too comfortable in your zone
Potential societal pressure that doesn’t allow creative explorations
Creativity isn’t something that stays constant, as much as we want it to. Without proper practice of creative exercises, it will fade from neglect and time.
Crafting is the bridge to exercising that creative muscle. Its unpredictable nature compels you to solve problems and express yourself in ways that help reduce stress while entering a focused state.
Connection between Crafting and Creativity
Being hands-on can potentially unlock parts of your thoughts you typically do not access by thinking or speaking. It forces you to confront new techniques and perspectives so you can procure new ideas and innovations.
And much like other methods of art, you provide yourself a vessel to express thoughts and emotions. By tapping into it and creating a physical manifestation of it, you are engaging in your creativity. This is unlike doing digital tasks that follow a recurring pattern; crafting requires adaptability, problem-solving, and innovative thinking throughout the whole process.
With all that in mind, creativity through crafting improves your creative health, as it releases dopamine that helps with mood boosting. This becomes a healthy outlet for emotional expression and helps you process your feelings.
How Art Impacts Creative Mental Health
Art is a source of a lot of what we consume daily: entertainment, clothes, a symbol of change and even food. So, it’s no surprise that it becomes one of the very tools to assist in easing the mind and support in improving wellness. Thus, art can:
Find Like-Minded Community
Relatability through art can become a strong connection between both the maker of art and the audience that sees it. Indirectly, it creates a community through a medium that helps voice out a feeling that others don’t realise has a place in the world.
Be An Outlet for Thoughts and Feelings
When art is interpreted, viewers have differing opinions and thoughts. So, why is it like that?
Artists, upon creating an art piece, release their emotions and feelings from pen to paper. It can be either a negative emotion or a positive one. Hence, why audiences react when looking at an art piece. Art is an outlet for those thoughts and feelings.
Why Creativity Can Sometimes Feel Stressful
At times, creativity can become a source of stress rather than its healing quality. There are a few reasons why this happens:
Perfectionism
Focusing solely on the outcome of your masterpiece can lead to frustration and self-doubt, especially when things don’t go as planned. This can ultimately hinder your desire to create anything at all. Not permitting yourself to fail can be harmful in the long run.
Impostor Syndrome
Slowly, self-doubt can turn into a state of mind that’s hard to shake off, an inner critic that questions your abilities. When impostor syndrome takes over, criticism becomes a personal take, as self-identity becomes tied closely to your work.
Lack of Work-Life Balance
Creative professionals with flexible hours can lose the boundaries between work and life. With no clear division between work and rest, stress accumulates as the pressure of wanting to be productive leads to creative burnout.
Practising skills of project management for creatives can help you sort your tasks and delegate them better to prevent them from spilling over onto your personal rest time.
Benefits of Crafting for Creativity
The benefits of crafts aren’t limited to the breaking of creative boundaries and creating beautiful art pieces; their positives extend to various other areas, like the following:
A Happy Pill
When you create, you feel productive. This can give you a sense of purpose and fulfilment—to have a solid understanding of direction, or even something to look forward to after your day job, is “significantly associated with lower[ed] levels of depression and anxiety”, as this blog from APA denotes.
Builds Community
Finding a new craft to indulge in provides the opportunity to share your creations with the world. In doing so, you’re likely to find others who share the same interests as you. You’ll have a group you can ask crafts advice from, but more importantly—community helps you feel less isolated. Not only is it good to have nice company occasionally, but it also boosts your mental well-being.
Cultivate Your Cognitive and Motor-skills
Crafts are easy to get into, but they can be difficult to master. With enough practice and effort, you’d improve exponentially—and due to how crafts require focus, attention, and coordination, you would be exercising these skills as well. This hobby kills multiple birds with one stone—it harnesses creativity, keeps your mind sharp, and improves your dexterity.
Not only that, but crafting also offers a range of benefits, from enhancing problem-solving skills through fixing mistakes and fostering a fearless approach to new ideas and innovation to strengthening focus, perseverance, and relaxation in the middle of daily life.
5 Crafting Activities to Keep Your Creativity Alive
Looking for some crafting activities to reignite your creativity? Here are 5 activities you can try.
Back to the topic at hand—creativity. Crafts are the barest form of self-expression, we’ve established so. Crafting can help unearth your emotions, provide a safe space for exploring your thoughts, and promote innovation—and for the most part, these benefits come from easily accessible crafts.
Scrapbooking: A Storytelling Canvas
Scrapbooking is more than arranging photos; it involves taking pages of an empty book to fill up with memorabilia, photos, art, and smaller crafts. By keeping this journal, you’d have a place to keep your memories that doubles as a method to get handsy in the way you express yourself through storytelling. It also acts as a way to preserve memories and thoughts—which in itself gifts you the opportunity to find creative inspiration in old experiences.
Birdhouse Building
Birdhouse building involves woodworking and designing. This activity comes with various benefits: the act of planning, sawing, and assembling can be therapeutic—but the end result might just be the most rewarding part of it all. Seeing birds fly in and out and residing in the house you have built for them can be a fulfilling experience indeed. Reconnecting with nature this way can help clear your mind as well, allowing you to observe your thoughts healthily.
LEGO, Perfect for All Ages
LEGO is not only a childhood pastime; it allows you to think creatively beyond the limit. It's also the most expensive craft on this list—unarguably so. But what can be argued is that it’s a worthy investment. Whether it be a set with a ready-made instructional sheet or a box of assorted building bricks, watching something come out of nothing will always be satisfying. And more importantly, it is reusable. You can rebuild or reinvent it as many times as you dismantle it.
Pottery
Sign up for a pottery-throwing class or simply buy yourself a cheap packet of air-dried clay to get started. It is undeniably a messy craft, but it forces you to be present and pay attention, relaxing your mind while enhancing your adaptability and patience. You’re able to fully redirect focus onto your art—clay dries up, so it’s best to stay acute. Better yet, your creations likely have everyday use. Just be wary of what varnish you’re putting on your kitchenware.
Knitting
Whether it be through bright patterns or intricate weaves, knitting allows you to fully express yourself in multiple forms and colours. Take advantage of the vast range of materials at hand to uncover unique combinations to your liking. Additionally, the repetitive hand motions of this handcraft can be therapeutic—it’s a healthy way to indulge in your creative aspirations and exercise creative thinking.
Tips to Make Crafting a Sustainable Habit
Schedule a dedicated time for your crafting sessions, just as you would for any important task.
Experiment with some new crafts you are interested in. Find inspiration from Pinterest or other platforms to keep the activity fresh.
If you are interested in learning further, you can join the community to connect with others and exchange ideas or inspirations.
Key Takeaways
Handcrafts have the special ability to soothe and to express.
It’s a hobby with endless possibilities, and you have all the time in the world to explore them.
Remember that creativity is a powerful tool, so seize it and create opportunities for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why does creative burnout happen?
Without proper rest and a separation from work and life, creative burnout would happen. It’s the same with exercising too excessively. You will eventually burn out your body if you push against the limits too much.
How can project management for creatives mitigate stress?
Providing structure to the otherwise chaotic nature of a creative work would actually better productivity and efficiency. Creative project management gives a sense of security in terms of clear deadlines, objectives and preventing miscommunication. As opposed to ‘traditional’ project management, where its strict structure would pressure creatives instead.
Author Bio
From Malaysia, Leia Emeera is a writer at TESSR, and a published author. She has been putting pen to paper ever since she learned how to, and has an anthology to her name, titled 'Ten'. Leia loves music, games and her beloved Labrador retriever, George. She aims to further her studies in English Literature and Creative Writing the moment her gap year ends. 'Till then, you will find her sitting behind a desk, writing with TESSR. Connect with her on LinkedIn: Leia Emeera
With a background in Arts English, Adilla has been a casual writer for various hobbies, like parodies of animated shows and plots for board games. She loves to read anything and everything from fantasy stories to articles on tips and tricks. Now an advocate for mental health and effective project management for the creative industry. Currently, Adilla resides in Malaysia and is a creative writer at TESSR. To know more about her, check out her LinkedIn.