The Importance of Creativity

Sometimes Ethan will head Uptown to work on a new story. Writing fiction is one of Ethan’s key creative outlets.

We’re all familiar with boredom — the lazy days when there’s nothing specific to do or get done; the want for something to break you free from the mundane life you’re living. Is there a handbook for distraction — a guide we’re given at birth to tell us what to do when there doesn’t seem to be anything for us to do?

Of course not.

But there doesn’t have to be. The brain can come up with so much more than what we give it credit for. With boredom and free time comes the opportunity to explore first with your mind, then with the world around you.

The answer to boredom, then, is creativity. But quite a few people struggle with being “creative.”

In my own experience, as a creative person who deals with some mental health issues, I’ve often used moments of boredom to make something new. Be it music, art or writing, I’ve dabbled in all of them. I continue to use them in my daily life to give me motivation to get through the day.

Like, when after a long day of classes, I went down to one of the two pianos located in Stonebridge Hall to play my stress away. Or when, instead of lying in bed doing nothing for hours because I ran out of motivation for socialization or academics, I listened to good music while painting on the back of a paper plate that I then hung up on my wall (I still have this artwork in my possession). There were other times when I felt overwhelmed by friendship and personal troubles, and chose to escape to a fantasy world, writing outside on one of my laptops.

While going on your phone isn’t always fulfilling and can lead to feeling numb and more bored, other more beneficial forms of escapism are easily achieved that can help you with dealing with anxiety or feeling overwhelmed. Not all forms of escapism are creative, and not all creativity is escapist.

Now, some might feel like different mental health issues prevent them from finding creative outlets for their boredom and lack of joie de vivre. While there is a definite struggle between having something like depression and being able to enjoy stuff and self-motivate, certain pains can be alleviated when one puts their mind toward something other than the issues at hand. Or when someone makes their issues, thoughts and feelings things for them to harness instead of immobile weights to be crushed by. Again, that’s not to say that all obstacles are mobile—sometimes it’s the case that prescribed drugs are needed to fix a chemical imbalance in the brain and that’s that—it’s for those that are, to make the most of them.

For those who don’t have mental health issues already, long periods of boredom

and nothing-to-do won’t necessarily help with maintaining a happy mind and mood. So, what can be done? How can a person who struggles with being “creative” become creative?

There is no easy answer. What it comes down to is: Are you willing to open your mind?

Creativity is rooted in one’s ability to consider alternatives to their situation. What if my feelings can be translated into something that I can draw or paint or craft? What if I finally do what I keep saying I’m going to do but keep putting off? What if I return to certain childhood antics, like making a fort out of blankets and pillows, or using what I have in my current environment to make something new?

In my case, I find that writing or making art/music that coincides with what’s on my mind or what I’m feeling generally helps make me feel less overwhelmed and anxious. When I make art about something I’m struggling with internally, I find that this helps me to compartmentalize. Also, listening to music that you wouldn’t normally listen to can help put yourself in a different headspace, which is important for creative thinking.

The goal is really to break habits, more than anything else. With that comes new possibilities and originality.

Habits are based around routine and the brain’s reward system, according to the article “Breaking Bad Habits” from NIH News in Health (a newsletter from the National Institutes of Health). So, habits can be broken from the repeated and practiced breaking of routines, or the practice of selfcontrol, even in areas that aren’t related to whatever the specific habit is: “regularly practicing different types of self-control— such as sitting up straight or keeping a food diary—can strengthen your resolve.”

Some of the tips provided include avoiding the environments where you know you’ll be tempted into doing something that has previously been a habit, and visualizing yourself in a tempting situation doing what you would prefer to do instead of giving into temptation. Exercise, and finding healthier habits to replace unhealthy ones, are also possible ways to help kick a habit. outside of your comfort zone.

While artistic products might be the desired outcome for some, they don’t have to be for everyone. Your desired outcome is yours to decide, to feel out, to work toward. Personally, I’ve seen people who would be perfectly capable of making outside-thebox decisions, but who feel that they can’t because they aren’t particularly artistic.

Just as not all art is particularly creative, not all creativity has to be tied to artistic works. You can be creative and not an artist. On the same note, not all artists are especially creative: in art class you’re often expected to copy another piece of art. This helps develop technique, but it doesn’t teach students to think outside of the box. When it comes down to it, there is no onesize-fits all answer to the question of “how to be creative,” but the great thing about creativity is that it innately requires no single answer.

And, when it comes to feeling less bored, it doesn’t hurt to try things you wouldn’t normally try. It might take a little bit of bravery, and giving yourself permission to fail, but new things can be created from old, and old habits can change.

It takes time and effort, but that time and effort is worth it.

Ethan reads from his self-published book, Fearghus Academy: October Jewels. It was published in May 2020, and Ethan’s working on the second book in the series, Fearghus Academy: Crystal Shards.