Kaya Purchase explores the interwoven relationship between creativity and wellbeing

“The creative force flows over the terrains of our psyches looking for the natural hollows, the channels that exist within us. We become its tributaries, its basins; we are its pools, ponds, streams and sanctuaries.” Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women who run with the wolves

Crafts and mindfulness go hand in hand. Mindfulness is defined as, ‘a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment’ – crafts are a great way to access this. The concept of being fully absorbed in a task, feeling the weight of something tangible in your hands, is a great way to be present. It can take your mind off things, help steady churning negative thoughts and anxieties and for those who feel dissociation, it can ground them to reality. It has an almost hypnotic quality as awareness of one’s surroundings melt away, leaving just the task at hand.

I’m sure everybody has at some point experienced the feeling of going through the motions. Life becomes a monotonous blur as we go through a repetitive cycle of work, commute, home. During the evenings, we’re so exhausted by daily responsibility that we just lounge about and watch the telly. We lose our passion for life and instead of living, merely exist. It’s an easy routine to fall into, and we’re not to blame. Now, more than ever, humans are chained to busy, uniform lifestyles, with the pressure of deadlines and household bills. Psychology Today (psychologytoday.com) speaks of immersion or ‘creative flow’ as ‘a feeling outside of time and effort, of effortlessness that is so extraordinarily satisfying it bestows on us the sense that life is worth living.’ Adding just a little bit of creativity can spark fresh enthusiasm, snapping us out of lethargy and relieving stress. When we get into a state of creative flow, whilst almost a sleep-walk state itself, it’s the perfect juxtaposition of going through the motions because it is rooted in our intuition and joy, as opposed to apathy and exhaustion.