3130: Happiness Is All in Your Mind by Paula Felps with Live Happy on Transformative Power of Creativity

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[00:00:59] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3130. Happiness is all in your mind by polyphelps with

[00:01:06] livehappy.com and your narrator Justin Malik reading you blogs every single day of

[00:01:11] the year including all days, so with that let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:20] Happiness is all in your mind by polyphelps with livehappy.com. Creativity may be your missing

[00:01:29] link to better well-being, while creativity was once considered the domain of artists,

[00:01:35] musicians and writers. Today we've expanded our understanding of how it applies to our

[00:01:40] lives, whether we're talking a child into getting ready for school, substituting a missing

[00:01:46] ingredient in a favorite recipe or working on a new business plan, creativity is about

[00:01:51] coming up with fresh new ideas then putting them into action. New research is disproving

[00:01:57] the old notion of the right brain as our creative center while the left brain is analytical

[00:02:02] and logical. New studies show creativity engages the entire brain with different regions

[00:02:07] working together during various stages of the creative process, in other words all of

[00:02:13] us have a creative network just waiting to be activated. All human beings have a capacity

[00:02:19] to be creative, says Dr. Nancy Andresson PhD, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist, quote

[00:02:25] people who like to cook are being creative. It's not limited to producing great paintings

[00:02:31] or creating music or writing novels or making scientific discoveries. Some people enjoy

[00:02:37] gardening, learning to play a musical instrument. There are all kinds of things that people do

[00:02:42] that are creative and quote. The positive feelings our brains generate during our creative

[00:02:48] pursuits puts us in a state of flow during which we become completely immersed and in tune

[00:02:54] with what we are doing. This leads to a feeling of joy not only while the task is being performed,

[00:02:59] but after it is completed. Quote, once those creative juices start flowing and you're no longer

[00:03:06] focusing on your own life or problems, you get into that flow state where you're working

[00:03:12] and the positive feelings are being reinforced. It's a great way to enhance your mood, says

[00:03:16] Shelley Carson PhD, a Harvard psychologist and the author of your creative brain. Whatever happened

[00:03:23] to the tortured artist, the idea of creativity feeding happiness and vice versa flies in the

[00:03:29] face of the long held belief that pain and suffering are prerequisites for creative genius.

[00:03:36] Through the years great creative minds seem to reinforce the argument with notables like

[00:03:41] Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Tchaikovsky, Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway and others showing

[00:03:47] mood disorders. Nancy, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa and winner of the National

[00:03:53] Medal of Science conducted some of the first empirical studies on the links between creativity

[00:03:59] and depression and other mental illnesses. But despite the connection, Nancy found that 20% of

[00:04:05] the writers from the Iowa writer's workshop she studied had what she described as big sea creativity.

[00:04:12] What she calls an extraordinary example of creativity like discovering something that leads to a Nobel

[00:04:18] prize. They were just more well balanced or they were lucky, Nancy says, quote,

[00:04:23] they tended to come from families that also did not have mental illness and, quote,

[00:04:28] other studies done both with depressed and non-depressed subjects have shown that creativity

[00:04:33] enhances moods which is why things like music therapy, art therapy and dance therapy have proved

[00:04:40] successful. However the myth of the tortured artist is strong enough that some resist getting help

[00:04:47] fearing they'll lose their inspiration. Julia Cameron, author of more than 30 books including the

[00:04:53] artist's way of spiritual path to higher creativity has known artists who resisted exploring happiness

[00:04:59] because they were afraid of losing touch with their creativity. On the other hand she's worked

[00:05:04] with people who are hesitant to explore their creative side for fear it will ruin their stable life.

[00:05:11] We have a certain mythology around creativity that simply is not correct, she says, quote,

[00:05:17] we've been brought up to believe that artists are broke and tortured many crazy. When I say

[00:05:23] let's become an artist let's play let's get in touch with our inner resources people are

[00:05:28] frightened they believe they can't be happy if they become an artist but the opposite is true.

[00:05:34] Julia believes that all of us are artists regardless of whether our medium is a kitchen stove,

[00:05:41] computer keyboard, blank canvas or tool shed. Quote, artistic creative people are solvent they're happy

[00:05:50] just start working on your creativity and watch what it does for you end quote.

[00:05:54] But the happiness effects of our creativity extend beyond us and can bring happiness to the people

[00:06:00] enjoying our work Nancy says quote, if you're a creative cook you can survey what's in your garden

[00:06:06] and what's in your refrigerator and spontaneously come up with a new combination of things that you

[00:06:11] then serve to your family spouse or whoever. That's very happiness generating she says.

[00:06:18] Being creative and enjoying the effects of creativity doesn't mean you need to become a world

[00:06:23] renowned chef sculpt like Michelangelo or right like Hemingway or sing like Elvis being creative

[00:06:30] can be as simple as writing down your family history making up silly songs or taking in our class.

[00:06:37] It's never too late to discover your creativity shelly says quote, there are wonderful implications

[00:06:44] from exploring creativity regardless of your age.

[00:06:52] You just listen to the post titled happiness is all in your mind by Paula Phelps with live happy

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[00:08:17] Take it a follow in the team at live happy creativity is a great way to tap into that state of

[00:08:23] flow mentioned in this article it's something we hear about every once in a while on this show

[00:08:28] it's that state where you're focusing on that one thing and then not planning for the future

[00:08:33] or stressing about it and also not reminiscing about the past or reliving bad memories.

[00:08:39] I've used the example before of surfing even though I've never done it and likely never will.

[00:08:44] You likely won't find someone riding a wave while thinking about what else they have to do that day

[00:08:50] and this is true for many different things outside of surfing or even any sports or

[00:08:55] recreation for that matter some people find flow in music their work even possibly volunteering

[00:09:02] or like we heard today creativity in that state of flow can unlock us from a negative mindset because

[00:09:09] we're not dwelling on it a great tool to enhance your mood so see if there's an area of life where

[00:09:14] you can add some creativity even in your work for example programming is often about creative problem

[00:09:20] solving even data entry could become more creative if you're looking for ways to speed it up who knows

[00:09:27] maybe a light bulb will go off if we start thinking creatively so have a nice and creative day

[00:09:33] thank you for being here listening to me and for subscribing or following the show

[00:09:37] and I'll be back tomorrow as usual where you're off to my life awaits