Manage Stress With Creativity -by Meenu Ahuja

Do you ever feel that your brain is working overtime? That there are hundreds of thoughts running in your head and each one is contradicting the other one? Maybe about some professional problem or even a personal issue? Maybe because you’re not able to focus?Or sometimes it is totally blank? Specially during the COVID situation, when you are not able to go out and all your emotions are bottling up? Frustrating, isn’t it?

In such a scenario, what many of us end up doing is SLEEPING. Even if we don’t need to rest, we think it will help us. Although that is not a bad option because we all love to sleep, but why not try something else?

One thing that can help calm your nerves is a Creative Outlet. Now many of us say that we are not at all creative, but that does not matter. You don’t have to have a creative mindset to release your stress. A creative outlet can be anything – Coloring, Sketching, Doodling, Music, Clicking Photos, making videos, Dancing, Reading, Writing, dressing up and many others. You don’t have to show what you do to anyone unless you don’t feel like, it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. It just hasto be your emotional outlet. Indulging in a creative activity not only helps you let out your emotions, but also helps you to focus.

·         Coloring – Get a kids’ or an adult coloring book and fill in whatever colors you want. Paint the sky pink or the grass blue. Do it the way you imagine it.

·         Sketching – Sketch a cartoon or a funny picture. Be it an apple or the typical scenery we used to draw in our childhood. Do as per your emotions.

·         Doodling – Doodle anything the way you see it.

·         Music – Listen and Create music. Sing like a bathroom singer and record yourself.

·         Clicking Photos/ Editing Videos – Pick any picture or a video up and start working on it.

·         Dancing – Dance your heart out to the songs you love, to the songs you miss.

·         Reading – Read anything you like to. Be it a comic or a love story, a biography or a horror story.

·         Writing – Maintain a journal. Put in your thoughts. Or even poetry or a blog. Create a story or write a snippet. Do it the way it makes you feel better.

·         Work out or go for cycling – This may not be creative, but if you like doing it, it will definitely boost your mood.

When we humor ourselves with such activities, we get in a flow and we get absorbed in doing it. Activities like Coloring, writing, knitting requires repetitive steps which create a flow of the task and hence we get focused in doing it. Also, all these activities help in the enhancement of innovations and imaginations and you might just get a surprisingly amazing output.

Now that we are all home, this would be a perfect time to try our hands at new things, isn’t it?

So, go ahead and pick up a hobby you may have quit a long time ago or find a new one. It’s possible that you try one and not be satisfied with it, don’t let your enthusiasm die. Try another one the next day and repeat the process unless you find the one that expresses your emotions and gives you peace. You don’t have to be perfect at it, you just have to be yourself.

Meenu Ahuja 

About Author: Meenu is a Commerce graduate with an experience of more than 2.5 years in the same field. She is passionate about mental health, Social Psychology and Stigmas with an aspiration to become a Counselor after doing her Masters in Psychology. She loves reading, writing and is a fan of Sitcoms and movies.