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How Cultivating and Nurturing Positive Mental Health Through Daily Acts of Creativity Can Lead to a Happier, More Balanced Life.
When we think about ways to support our positive mental health, creativity might not be the first thing that comes to mind. Often, creativity is associated with artistic or innovative endeavours like painting, music, dance, or even entrepreneurship. However, creativity is so much more than artistic expression; it’s a powerful tool for self-understanding, compassion, and emotional regulation. In fact, creativity can be a lifeline—a vital means to nurture our mental well-being and stay positive.
Creativity as a Daily Practice
One of the most effective ways to support your mental health is through small, daily acts of creativity. This doesn’t require being an artist, having special skills or equipment. It’s about embracing creativity as a mindset and cultivating a positive habit through everyday activities—whether it’s writing, cooking, doodling, or arranging flowers. These creative acts can provide comfort and serve as a support system for stress and anxiety.
When we engage in creative activities, we enter a state of flow. In this state, time seems to disappear, and we feel most like ourselves—alive, aware, and connected. Our heart rate steadies, our breathing becomes regular, and we experience a sense of calm. It’s in these moments that we tap into our natural creative potential, opening ourselves to the joy of complete wholeness.
Engaging in creative activities releases chemicals in our brains that improve focus, elevate mood, and reduce stress—it’s like free happy juice! Moreover, creativity builds new neural pathways, laying a foundation of purpose and meaning in our lives.
Making creativity a daily habit strengthens our ability to enter this state of flow. It has effects similar to mindfulness, meditation, or yoga, leading to positive emotions and reduced stress. This focused state of mind changes how our brain functions, with benefits that last longer than the creative activity itself. It helps us stay centred, navigate life’s challenges, and maintain our overall wellness. In fact, being intentionally creative—even for just a few minutes each day—can make you 20 times happier and healthier*.
At the core of maintaining positive mental health through creativity is the relationship you have with yourself. Cultivating a loving and kind relationship with yourself is an act of compassion, especially when it comes to creativity. Too often, fear, conditioned beliefs, and self-doubt hold us back from experience the array of positive outcomes creativity can provide—for example, believing that we’re not good enough to be creative, too old, or not talented enough. Yet, creativity is an expression of love—love for yourself and the world around you.
Even if creativity is part of your life, as it has been for mine as an artist and designer, understanding the relationship between our creativity and well-being may be a new concept for you. I didn’t fully grasp its impact on my mental health until I reimagined what creativity meant to me. In 2017, while running a successful design studio, I reached a breaking point. Burnt out and overwhelmed by the demands of work and life, I didn’t seek help until a shock diagnosis of ovarian cancer forced me to confront my mental and physical health.
The journey to recovery was a rollercoaster, including struggles with depression, anxiety, and the effects of surgical menopause. This led me to explore a new way of living—a life centred around creative well-being. It wasn’t about being a talented artist or designer; it was about embracing creativity as a way to support my mental well-being and maintain a positive state of mind.
Cultivating this mindset through small daily acts of creativity encouraged me to be open and vulnerable, to accept compassion and support, and to discover a deeper connection to myself. This, in turn, helped me find meaning in the everyday, cultivate resilience, and create a life that is happier, healthier, and more fulfilled. Even as I continue to navigate the challenges of life, I do so with a positive mental outlook, grounded in eight foundational mindsets that support me in living through the lens of creativity as an essential part of my well-being practice.
8 Creative Foundations to Support Positive Well-Being
- Awareness
Just like an artist, your mind is a storage space—a library of observation and sensory awareness. Awareness unlocks your subconscious, and your artistic eye is the lens through which you view the world. Mindfully commit the shapes, colours, smells, and sounds of life to your imagination.
- Listening
Creativity begins in the quiet. You’ll start to hear your creative call if you dare to turn off your phone, stop checking emails, stop the doom scroll and resist the urge to respond immediately to every request. Be deliberate and mindful in making time for quiet contemplation.
- Courage
Discover what ignites your imagination by keeping a notebook or journal with you. Write, sketch, or scribble every day—whether you feel inspired or uncomfortable. Letting your ideas flow without judgment will help you uncover the courage of resilience.
- Curiosity
Develop your creative thinking skills with curious questioning. Creativity responds when questions are clear and intentional. Try starting with open-ended statements like, “What if,” “How might I,” or “Am I willing to see things differently in this situation?” Curious, thoughtful questions invite new ways of seeing and help you find more inspiration in life.
- Playfulness
What was your favourite thing to play as a child? Engage your imagination with play and watch how happy accidents turn into creative breakthroughs. Be spontaneous, have fun, and be prepared for something new—it’s the adventure of life. Play with ideas. Say “yes” instead of “no.” If you need to create healthy boundaries, say “no” instead of “yes.”
- Acceptance
When your inner critic starts judging you, telling you that you’re not talented or creative, quickly loosen its grip. Heal past wounds by showing loving kindness to yourself first. Pursuing a creative activity just for yourself is not selfish; it’s an act of acceptance and compassion.
- Gratitude
Gratitude is so closely entwined with creativity that they’re almost the same thing. Think of gratitude as simply being present—thankful for both the gift and the giving. Once you start to see the gift of gratitude, it will flow into your creative mindset.
- Connection
You have a natural, inbuilt creativity power button, and once you’re connected to it, you’ll understand creativity as your superpower. Being “in the zone” or in a “state of flow” is when your world feels timeless, teaching you to intentionally let go and surrender.
**Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021
Amanda O’Bryan is a Hunter Valley-based artist and award-winning designer with over 25 years of experience in the Creative Industries. As the founder of Creative Queen Bees, author of Daily Acts of Creativity and a trained facilitator in Creative Problem Solving and Therapeutic Arts, Amanda is passionate about creating meaningful, uplifting, creative experiences that support women’s wellbeing. She hosts popular workshops where participants explore the art as a therapeutic benefit of creativity. Amanda holds a BA in Design (Graphic), BA Credit in Visual Arts, and International Certification in Creative Problem Solving from the Creative Education Foundation, SUNY New York, and studies in Therapeutic Arts.
https://creativequeenbees.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandaobryan/
