Acts of creativity can give us a dose of happiness and shake us out of our torpor. It only requires we make or contemplate beauty to raise our happiness level. (I recommend Your Brain On Art: How the Arts Transform Us, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, 2023.)
Creativity can involve music, dance, a gallery visit, time outdoors, etc. Even just pausing to look at a favorite painting on your wall can elevate the spirit. (This painter was glad to read this fact. Of course, intuitively I knew this, as time in my studio makes me happy.)
Interestingly, I just read in the paper that "there's been a lot of chatter lately about the benefits of micro-dosing psychedelic drugs... to promote relaxation and creativity". I couldn't help but to think, why don't we just make art? Creative moments are all around us.
You say you aren't creative? Here are a few ideas to get you started, all legal and free!
Level 1
Curate your refrigerator door
Visit an ethnic grocery store, then cook something you've never tried before
Dance in your slippers
Contemplate the bloom of the dandelion for 60 seconds
Sing with gusto on your commute (bonus points if you are taking public transportation)
Write a thank-you haiku and make someone's day
Make a fort to work in (won't your boss be impressed)
Plant a garden
Learn the lyrics to a new song
Level 2
Re-create your signature, with calligraphic flourish
Print three of your favorite iPhone photos, frame them in IKEA frames and hang them on your wall. (See, I told you you were creative.)
Find a YouTube video on how to draw a banana. (Put this on your wall with duct tape. Your friends will think you are cutting edge.)
Level 3
Share what you are uniquely doing to feed your creativity. This is level 3 because reaching a higher level requires NO FEAR. So... just do it. (Or, as art critic Jerry Saltz famously says, "Get to work, you big baby!"
Above: my iPhone photo of the week.
Now it's your turn.
Go have some fun.
Sheree