Being an artist, I’ve always found a form of comfort behind my canvas. Be it the most dull of days, I was able to turn that around by spending some time painting or even doodling. One such day I happened to have a passing thought about what changes occur in my brain while creating something and why does it uplift my mood. It was just one of those thoughts that went by and was forgotten about soon enough.
After a few months I began teaching art to little kids, I started interacting with children of all ages and it was a whole new experience. I wanted to understand and get to know more in order to help me engage them better during our classes. I then decided to send out a questionnaire to all the children with a bunch of questions related to their hobbies, lifestyle and daily routine. After a few weeks I was able to gather all the responses and the answer to the very last question left me amazed. The last question was “Why do you like to draw or paint?”, almost every response to that question was either it makes me happy or I feel good. This made me ponder on the co-relation of our brains and creativity, which did not only apply to me but even to children. Without being aware of what triggers their emotional changes they were still able to respond to the question by acknowledging their feeling. Furthermore, I was able to notice a feeling of accomplishment in the children towards the end of every art class. This visual creative expression seemed to be like the last piece of a big puzzle.
I was so curious and I just had to read more about the science and theories behind the link between creativity, our bodies and minds. I came across various articles that spoke about the link between creativity and the release of endorphins, a feel-good hormone in the body and thereby reducing cortisol, a stress hormone. You would be surprised to know that just a few minutes a day of a creative activity could drastically elevate your mood.
I strongly believe engaging in any form of creative work is essential for people of all ages to help them relax, build self esteem and overall create a healthy and positive state of mind.