Healing Through Creative Outlets and Hobbies: Finding Purpose and Joy Amidst Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression
Our life’s journeys are often filled with turbulent twists and turns. For those battling trauma, anxiety, and depression, these obstacles can feel especially challenging. However, there is a powerful strategy that can help navigate these storms - pursuing creative outlets and hobbies. In this guide, we'll explore how to find a creative outlet or hobby, how to use it for stress relief, social engagement, building self-worth, and creating purpose in your life, and why it's vital when facing the challenges of today’s world.
Part 1: Finding Your Creative Outlet
1.1 Exploring Your Interests
The first step in developing and pursuing a creative outlet or hobby is discovering what truly ignites your passion. Consider the following:
Past Interests: Reflect on activities you once loved or felt curious about. Was there a time you went to an event or saw something that seemed interesting to you but slipped your mind afterward? Maybe there was something you used to enjoy doing before you found yourself emotionally overwhelmed or sad? Or maybe there was something you never pursued because you felt you just didn’t have the time?
Try New Things: Be open to exploring new hobbies or revisiting old ones. Take an open-minded approach, pick an activity to try, commit to trying it in earnest, and give yourself at least 2-4 weeks. Remember that sometimes the idea of change itself, or doing something new, can make us anxious or uncomfortable. That uncomfortable feeling isn’t necessarily from the activity not being a good fit! So, give it some time before deciding if it’s a good fit or not.
Listen to Your Heart: Pay attention to what excites you and brings you joy. The purpose is to find something that makes your heart feel uplifted, not to add another chore to your life. You want this to feel like a sigh of relief or a stir of excitement, not a work commitment or obligation.
1.2 Overcoming Barriers
Time Management: Allocate time for your creative pursuits. Even small increments can make a difference. You can even start small. Committing five minutes to a new activity can go a long way to forming a new habit. Just build as you go and feel more comfortable. For example, start doing a 5-minute morning meditation. As time passes, you can build that to a 10-minute morning meditation or a 5-minute morning meditation and a 5-minute afternoon meditation. The point is to make it work for YOU and YOUR life.
Self-Doubt: Self-doubt often comes from negative self-talk and can feel like a pesky little bug in your ear. Just swat that nagging bug away, figuratively speaking, and keep going with the change that you’ve committed to! Challenge your inner critic. Remember, creativity is about self-expression, not perfection.
Resources: Don't let a lack of materials or space stop you; creativity can thrive with minimal resources. Remember this quote if you hit a resource roadblock, “Necessity is the mother of ingenuity”.
Part 2: Using Creativity for Stress Relief
The Power of Mindfulness: Creative activities that are also meditative, allow you to stay present and reduce stress. Painting, drawing, or even coloring can serve as mindful practices. If you have a strong inner critic or feel intimidated by art activities, try an adult color by numbers coloring book in a theme that speaks to your heart.
Emotional Expression: Creativity offers a safe space to express complex emotions. Through art, writing, or music, you can release pent-up feelings, leading to emotional relief. Your art can even be used as a therapy aid. Discuss the thoughts and emotions you experienced while creating your art with your therapist for help processing your feelings.
Distraction from Anxiety: Engaging in a creative hobby provides a healthy distraction from anxious thoughts. It shifts your focus to the task at hand, promoting relaxation. It can also lower feelings of anxiety by preventing you from ruminating on bad thoughts. If your mind and/or hands are busy being happily engaged in your hobby, you won’t be as likely to go down the rabbit hole of negative thoughts or what ifs.
Part 3: Building Self-Worth
Celebrating Achievements: Finishing a new creative project, or meeting an activity deadline no matter how small, boosts your self-esteem. Each finished piece and accomplishment is a testament to your abilities and dedication. It gives you tangible proof that you can create, build, or achieve what you have set your mind to. It’s a way to prove to yourself that not only are you capable, but you are also worthy.
Embracing Imperfection: Getting creative or pursuing new hobbies can teach you that mistakes are part of the process. Embracing imperfection in your work can translate to accepting imperfection in yourself, reducing self-criticism. What’s important is that you’re actively engaged in the activity and the way it makes you feel while participating, not that whatever you're doing comes out perfect!
Finding Your Unique Voice: Finding hobbies that also include elements of creativity allow you to express your individuality. Your creations are a reflection of your thoughts and experiences, reinforcing your sense of self-worth. It feels good to see what you and only you were able to create.
Part 4: Creating Meaningfulness and Purpose
Connecting with Others: Many creative pursuits or hobbies can be shared with others. Joining clubs or workshops related to your hobby helps to build social engagement and a sense of belonging. This is a great way to find your tribe! If you are having trouble finding others with similar interests in your area, don’t be afraid to create the community yourself! There are certainly other people with similar interests just like you that would be happy to be a part of a community. If you feel discouraged at the thought of being the one to jumpstart the community, tell yourself, “Build and they will come”.
Giving Back: Using your creative skills to help others can provide a profound sense of purpose. Consider volunteering, teaching, or creating art for a cause. Many volunteer activities don’t even require creativity, just a willing heart. Volunteering can be a great way of helping others, building your own self-worth (you will see how important you are by the way your simple actions can impact and improve the lives of others), and finding a new community.
Setting Goals: Establish goals to give your hobby direction and meaning. Whether it's finishing a novel or mastering a musical instrument, these objectives infuse your life with purpose. Being able to look back and see how you have slowly worked towards or reached your goals builds self-confidence and resilience. Setting and reaching goals provides proof that you are capable of achieving things you want from life.
Part 5: Why Creativity is Vital in Mental Health Battles
A Channel for Expression: Trauma, anxiety, and depression often leave individuals feeling voiceless. Creative hobbies offer a channel to express emotions and experiences that may be too difficult to verbalize. They also provide an opportunity for reflection on our feelings and a way of processing them.
A Source of Hope: Engaging in creative activities provides hope and a sense of accomplishment. Each creation is a testament to your strength and resilience. Increasing hope can improve mental health by increasing confidence, optimism, and resilience, while decreasing negative thoughts.
A Path to Healing: Studies have shown that creative expression can promote healing. Art therapy, for instance, can be a powerful tool in addressing past traumas by using art to put feelings and emotions into words.
Building Resilience: Through the ups and downs of creative pursuits, you develop resilience. This resilience can be transferred to other aspects of life, helping you better cope with mental health challenges.
Part 6: Inspiring Hope
Your Creative Journey: Remember, your creative journey is uniquely yours. There are no rules, no judgments. Every step you take in this journey is a step towards healing and personal growth. The important thing is to start, not how you start or how long it takes you to get there.
Stories of Triumph: Countless individuals have used hobbies and interests or harnessed the power of creativity to overcome life challenges. Their stories serve as beacons of hope, reminding us to never give up on ourselves. Even if you have lived with anxious feelings, sadness, or traumatic memories for as long as you remember, change is still possible.
Embrace Your Creative Self: Embrace your creative self as a vital part of your healing process. In every brushstroke, chord, or word you create, you're manifesting your resilience and strength. Participating in any way in a hobby or interest, particularly one that includes a community, can help you along your journey to self-discovery and recovery.
The Takeaway
In the darkest moments of trauma, anxiety, and depression, finding a creative outlet or hobby can be a lifeline to hope and healing. It offers not only an escape from the chaos of the mind but also a means of self-expression, self-worth, and purpose.
Remember that change is almost always scary at first and feeling anxious about trying something new is completely normal. Lean into it and embrace your journey. It's a path towards rediscovering yourself, rebuilding your mental health, and, most importantly, discovering your strength and that there is hope for a different way of life.