Easy things I've done for my creative health lately

A peek at how I get my vitamin c(reativity)

Easy Things I’ve Done For My Creative Health Lately is a peek at how I get my vitamin c(reativity) throughout the week to strengthen my creative brain 🧠💪🏼🎨.

Daydreamers

defines Creative Health as having elements of play, being spontaneous, being curious, experiencing exhilaration and fun, challenging ourselves, and/or finding our inner resilience.

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Let’s be honest: the world simultaneously feels like a spinning top and somehow flattened by a sea of sameness.

We’re overstimulated but somehow bored.

Numb but overwhelmed.

Buzzing with noise but starved for meaning.

If you’ve been feeling that too, same 👋🏼.

Most of us were never taught how to actually take care of our creative health. We were told to make to-do lists. To be productive and call that a personality. To sit still and meditate when things feel overwhelming. To follow a roadmap for a future that, quite honestly, doesn’t exist anymore.

Instead of continuing to feel unprepared, under-resourced, unmoored, and like everything is out of my control, I’m reclaiming my agency — via “mini-c” creativity.

This means: making a mess. Trying stuff. Doing something with my hands that reminds me I’m alive.

These little practices might not look like much on the outside, but they’re becoming my way of staying resourced, flexible, and adaptable — especially when the world feels too fast, too loud, or just too much.

So here’s a peek at what I’ve been trying lately. No talent or art degree required. Just curiosity, a willingness to play, and maybe a glue stick 🎨🧠💪🏼

Easy things I’ve done for my creative health lately

Puzzles! So. Many. Puzzles. Puzzles are kind of nostalgic for me — my mom and I used to do puzzles growing up, so they always remind me of one way we used to spend time together when I was little. There’s scientific evidence that nostalgia boosts our positive emotions, improves our mood, increases our optimism and hope, and strengthens our social bonds. So cool, right?!

Watercolor painting: One of my favorite Instagram accounts I’ve stumbled upon lately is art life practice. The founder, Berry, creates thoughtfully designed art products to support a daily creative practice. As I was scrolling through her IG I found a post where she shared a mindful drawing exercise using watercolors. I gave it a go and loved just letting my brush create lines. The end result isn’t too bad either! It kinda reminds me of Matisse’s cut outs, which I’m obsessed with at the moment!

Inspired by Pinterest, I also tried my hand at watercoloring my mom’s Mother’s Day card. I love that I can still make handmade cards for people as an adult 🎨

Flower arranging: One of the ways we can get into a creative flow state is through autotelic activities. Autotelic activities have a balance of challenge and skill; when the activity’s challenge matches the individual’s skill, you’re able to enter a creative flow state. I decided to experiment with using one flower ingredient for a flower arrangement I was making (inspired by Van Gogh’s sunflowers). I’m still learning so much about spacing and placing flowers so this was a fun challenge!

Gem Painting: I love Target’s Mondo Llama line of arts & craft supplies — even moreso now that they have adult arts & craft kits! I picked up this gem art kit the other day (I thought the Italian theme was so cute for summer!). Even though I don’t think gem painting is my thing, it was nice to try something different.

Trying new foods: Trying different foods than I would typically order has become one of my favorite ways to experiment. Sometimes they’re a flop (like when I ordered a jasmine vanilla latte that was less than palatable…), but other times they’re a total win (like this lemon and squash blossom pizza)! Either way, I’m learning about, developing, and refining my own taste.

(Side note:

Kevin Flores

wrote an excellent post called, “Having ‘Taste’ in the Age of AI” — I couldn’t help but think that experimentation and play are two levers we can move to continually develop our own taste)

Doodling: I’ve made doodling part of my journaling practice because it’s actually quite powerful! It activates your Imagination Network, which helps you connect seemingly unrelated ideas, helps you make sense of the world, and restores your attention. It’s the same part of our brain that’s activated when we take a shower and suddenly have a stroke of brilliance 💡

(Katina Bajaj of Daydreamers wrote a fascinating post on our brain’s Imagination Network if you want to learn more!)

Daydreamers app: Speaking of Katina, I joined their platform Daydreamers, which contains 100s of creative health exercises. One of my favorite exercises so far prompted me to use a scratchpad and doodle how I was feeling about a current problem or challenge I was facing. Then, on the other side, doodle how I wanted to feel about it. I surprised myself with how I was able to communicate my feelings with rudimentary doodles. I’m obsessed!

Building LEGOs: After years of buying my niece and nephew LEGO sets, I finally bought one for myself 😂 And since I’m not quite ready to splurge on the Vincent Van Gogh - Sunflowers set, I decided to start small. This small act of play was so fun — I loved discovering how LEGO truly thinks differently by repurposing pieces (i.e. boat oars as petals). Incredible!

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“Mini-c” creativity isn’t about being an “artist.” These little moments — playing, doodling, building, arranging — remind me that creativity is how we stay present. How we stay human!

The more I tend to my creative health, the more resourced, flexible, and adaptable I feel to meet a changing world — one that looks quite different than the one we were brought up to prepare for.

What’s something easy you could do this week that inspires play, curiosity, or spontaneity?