Creativity and Health: Introduction

Creativity might seem to be a talent of just a few “creative types”, but in truth it's simply our nature; we can't help but be creative. Except, that is, when we're free from stress.

Creativity is as natural a part of us as it is of the world around us, whether in the "light" of our insight, the "flash" or "lightning strike" of our inspiration, or the "tidal wave" of our love. As another example, we see our imagination as “fire”.

Creativity is a kind of aliveness seen throughout the natural world, and we're no exception.

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Human creativity is not confined to our art and inventiveness. Creativity is what makes us truly thrive, and goes to the heart of who we are as human beings.

 

Look at the love a mother has for her child, and the joy and inspiration that keeps a musician motivated even after achieving commercial success.

 

Innate human creativity is our most valuable yet underappreciated asset, being by far and away our most powerful - and intelligent - drive.

 

Take the effort it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This succeeds best when we nurture our own, innate initiative to adopt measures like healthy eating, exercise and social engagement - and on terms that are meaningful for us personally.

 

A few other examples of our innate creativity are our imagination and inspiration, our generosity and our courage. All make us feel more connected - and more "ourselves" and "at home in our own skin" - and can be contrasted with the altogether different kind of influence of stress , powered by "stress forces" like anger and fear that make us "beside ourselves" with rage, or "scared out of our skin".

 

The purpose of this website - and the accompanying book - is to explore creativity as it applies to our nature, health and well-being.

 

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If we're to reverse worrying trends like today's rise in illnesses like obesity and teenage depression, this personal, innate creativity needs to accompany the  technological  innovation and creativity that's revolutionised our economy.

 

Distress and illness come when minds  become "locked down". Returning to depression , therefore, in this illness everything can appear to turn monochrome grey, while thoughts can become uniformly negative. Anxiety , meanwhile, can make us overwhelmed by the sense of danger, and simmering anger can be unrelentingly harsh in its judgement of others (or even our own self). In every case, the mind becomes a (highly "efficient") factory of sameness when it produces only "one track" thoughts, beliefs and moods.

 

Again, we come back to the same conclusion: true health goes with reconnecting with our own, innate dynamism and creativity.

 

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The perspective being presented here is that there are two competing sets of "forces" within us; one that enables our true health and another that robs us of that. These are:

 

(1) Creative forces  like love and joy that move and inspire us, not just emotionally but also in terms of how committed and engaged we are in our lives. These forces give us real power and freedom just so long as we stay stress-free.

 

(2) "Stress forces"   - that attack us from the inside, like  fear ,  anger  and  compulsive desire  (the kind that makes us obsessed or addicted). Given half a chance, these deprive us our own, real power and freedom, and destroy our self-creativeness.

 

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Without self-creativity, no "miracle" of modern science can spare us from the evolving social fractures and epidemics of our age. Now is the perfect time to grow our awareness and knowledge of self-creativity, and to stand up for this priceless resource.