How getting creative keeps me calm

Collectively, in the modern world, I think our mental health is pretty delicate.

It’s thinly set ice that could splinter and crack with even the slightest pressure. We’re juggling too much, seeking happiness in the wrong places and at times fall in to the culture of blame.

I understand more about happiness and my own mental wellbeing than ever before, but I still know so little.

Most of us think we have a grasp on what makes us feel good, but equally, we turn to negative thought patterns and perform acts of self torture that often cancel out the good.

Even when we know the truth and answers, we still shun them for a flimsier and trickier route to feeling simply OK.

In my experience, having had a big slab of time trampled on by depression, the ways to reach balance and contentment are ultimately free, accessible and very, very simple.

Pen doodling has become my newest form of relaxation and calm. In times where everything seems to be going wrong and I feel like I’m free-falling, I can always trust in a sturdy pen to help me slow down and gain perspective as I trawl its immovable ink across the page.

I grew up in a house where my sign writer dad encouraged drawing and painting on our dining room table.

I would spend hours designing shoes on scraps of paper and drawing intricate pictures of any human face that would sit long enough for me to emulate. I’ve always had a sublime sense of freedom in this space.

I am lucky that I inherited an artistic flare from my dad and have honed my skill as much as possible in the last 30-odd years but the result is never really the point. The action of creation is where it is at. The lack of mental rumination. The sense of control in the creation and expression from deep within.

I’ve tried all of the wrong routes on the fruitless map to happiness and by process of elimination now know the things that will really help me on a deep cellular level

On top of being creative, I’ve found other ways to reach for during the week when things get mentally tough, such as eating well and cooking as much as I have time to, exercising and specifically in nature when I can, music, being with good people, speaking my truth and being honest about what I like and don’t like.

And all of these are free, which is so important at a time when we’ve been socially indoctrinated to believe that the newest model of car, or shiniest slipper like loafers are going to do the trick.

We think we can buy happiness or perhaps purchase a newer version of ourselves where worries are a myth and sadness obsolete.

We assume once we get a new boyfriend, secure a promotion, buy our first property, then we will be complete and once again trouble free; so how come that is never actually the case?

Consumerism is partly responsible but also the speed at which humans have evolved and how we live today has taken its toll on our fragile minds.

I’ve tried all of the wrong routes on the fruitless map to happiness and by process of elimination now know the things that will really help me on a deep cellular level.

My love of creating inspired my latest idea which is a Happy Place charity initiative for The Prince’s Trust. I am the mental health and wellbeing ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and love the work they do.

I recently sat in on one of their art therapy sessions and saw how for some, who feel they can’t talk about their fears and worries, it is a raw and helpful tool to unlock suppressed feelings.

The Great Create, which takes place in March, aims to inspire the nation to get in groups whether at home, work, school or other wise and to get creating.

Some of the brilliant young ambassadors have created varying packs where you can learn a new skill or try something relaxing in a group and raise money for art therapy and other vital support for those who really need it.

There is no bad side to creating in a group. It calms the mind, gets you talking to others in a new way as the intensity of eye contact is somehow diluted and you get something out of it at the end.

While it might not fix things for good, I’ve found that with regularity and perhaps even some boring old fashioned discipline, it can start to form new neural pathways and allow me some much-needed respite when life gets too overwhelming.

You can find out more about The Great Create, which is supported by Staedtler, here. To find out more about The Prince’s Trust, click here.