Are Creative Hobbies Important? (How to Paint Yourself a Little Wellness)
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Ever doubt the importance of your creative hobby? 🤔
Rest assured, creative hobbies offer a range of health benefits that improve our capacity to cope with life in general.
Reduced stress and anxiety, better problem solving and a more joyful and optimistic outlook on life are just a few of the reasons a creative hobby is one of the best things you can do for your wellness.
When you suddenly have a bit of extra time on your hands (Kids going back to school, retirement or global pandemics, for example) a creative hobby is a welcome distraction.
But please don’t underestimate the importance of a creative hobby.
A creative hobby is valuable enough to warrant making time for even if we are busy.
Perhaps even more important when we are busy and/or stressed!
And please don’t doubt that you are creative. To be human is to be creative. It is an innate part of every one of us.
“Creativity is important for happiness. Creativity is part of you, whether you are an artist, a bus driver, a stay-at-home mom, or a professional. No matter who you are, some degree of creativity is necessary for wellness and contentment.” Carrie Barron MD (Author of The Creativity Cure)
By the way if you are still doubting that you are artistic - here’s how to tell.
The thing about a hobby is that it is something you do for fun - not because you have to. This sort of low risk endeavour is the perfect way to step out of the expectations of your everyday life.
There is no deadline, no dire consequences.
It’s just for you.
And it's just fun.
To me it’s a holiday from adulting.
I don't mean to diminish the significance of a creative hobby with all this talk of fun and play. Giving yourself a time for play is important at any age and probably one of the best things you can do for your adulting responsibilities.
Creative activities have been shown to lower stress and anxiety, increase positive outlook and even improve our immune functioning. All of this contributes to better resilience and a greater capacity for coping with whatever life throws at you.
Is painting a good creative hobby?
Of course there are plenty of creative hobbies to choose from, but my favourite is painting.
Painting is accessible to us all. You can get started with no prior knowledge or talent. Supplies are relatively inexpensive and you can do some sort of painting wherever you happen to be.
In my opinion the tactile delights of playing with brushes and paper, colour and shape, is hard to beat.
What are the health benefits of painting?
Since there are so many benefits of painting I won’t even try and create an exhaustive list. But I will tell you about the ones that I value most :
Painting is like Meditation for people who don't like meditating
When you start to paint you inevitably take on a new appreciation of everything you set your eyes upon. You notice more details, brighter colours, and observe interesting patterns and textures.
You become more mindful of your surroundings.
I often say that drawing and paintings is like meditation for people who don't like meditating. When you are in a creative flow state, the brain waves slow down. The prefrontal cortex is also quietened which allows you to be braver and less critical.
Watercolour paint in particular lends itself to this sort of anxiety relieving, stress abating downtime. The characteristics of watercolour pigments make them do some fascinating and quite beautiful things when they react with the water and the page.
Just watching the colour swirl and settle is enough to soothe the soul a little in my experience.
I believe this also contributes to the ease of painting (although some would vehemently disagree!). My philosophy is to let the watercolour paint do its share of the work.
Accept that there is no need to control the watercolour, and you find yourself considerably unburdened.
All that’s left to do is relax and enjoy playing with colour. It’s easier than you think, I promise - click here to see what I mean.
Painting Lowers Stress, Increasing Hope and Optimism
We already know that painting can reduce our stress levels. Giving our hands something to do quiets that monkey mind and researchers can actually observe a change in cortisol levels as a result of this activity. But there’s more to it.
When we are under stress we can lose our complex decision making skills and our ability to see multiple perspectives. Daniel Coleman calls this the ‘amygdala hijack’. It is only when we can calm ourselves that we restore our ability to use the parts of our brain that let us see other possibilities and feel hope and optimism again.
Give painting a go and I’m sure you will agree that it just makes you feel better.
Painting lets you Practice your Problem Solving skills
The process of painting is basically a series of problems to solve.
From what brush and paper to choose (click here if you want free help with supplies) to how to make your subject seem three dimensional to how to fix a ‘mistake’, painting offers plenty of opportunities to practice problem solving and critical thinking in a very low risk environment.
Of course, the other skill this hones is perseverance. Once you are engaged in your painting it is likely that you will have the concentration and perseverance to see it through.
Now that’s a skill that always comes in handy.
Painting Improves Self esteem and happiness
Studies have shown that making art stimulates the release of dopamine. This is the reward neurotransmitter associated with pleasurable activities that essentially makes us feel happier.
Creating a painting can also leave you with a sense of accomplishment that can boost self esteem.
Every painting you do will increase your confidence in your own abilities.
Painting Helps You Age Gracefully
A study compared ART CART participants (mature artists) to the general population of the same age group and found that those that made art showed significantly better physical capacity and were much more likely to do volunteer work.
Creative mature adults were much higher functioning with lower depression and loneliness scores and higher morale than those with no creative outlet.
These results suggest having a creative hobby is an excellent way to ensure that you age gracefully enjoying both the full length and breadth of your life.
Do you have to be good at painting to experience the health benefits?
Luckily no. A study at Drexel University found that an art making session lowered the stress hormone cortisol, regardless of the skill and experience of the art maker.
Also… I just have to point out that being ‘good’ at painting is highly subjective anyway.
So forget about that and just jump into the fun of painting. Yes even if you can’t draw.
Tony Robbins says “Happiness is progress.” This is so true in painting. What makes us happy is to be engaged in a fun little project.
The point is not the reaching of some predetermined destination, the point is spending time doing something that we enjoy - progressing in our project. It is in this time that we provide ourselves with opportunities to feel joy and inspiration, to find purpose and meaning.
If you spend an hour or so painting I think you will agree that it is the memory of an hour’s pleasurable activity that feels far more valuable and rewarding than the final painting itself.
What is the best kind of painting for beginners?
I believe watercolour is the best place to start.
Of all the available mediums, I find watercolour to be the most approachable for beginners. You need very little in the way of space and supplies so the start up cost is small.
And even more importantly, it is easy to clear away without the danger of ruining your brushes if you get this part wrong.
No mess or toxic fumes either.
Now if you are wildly drawn to something else like oils or acrylics then by all means follow your heart.
That’s what painting is all about.
Whichever you choose, may you paint yourself a little wellness today.
Are you on your own painting journey?
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