How My Friend And I Use Mindfulness To Increase Creativity

^{J.P.La'Touche}

^{I've always been fascinated with the relationship between mindfulness and the arts. How can mindful practices help creatives achieve more?
Recently a good friend of mine who is a screenwriter sent me a couple of paintings he'd completed earlier in the week. He then went on to tell me that he had been drawing every morning before work for the last couple of weeks.
I was immediately interested in why he chose to do this? How did it make him feel? What are the benefits, and will you continue? Apart from being a little taken aback by my rapid-fire of questions, he told me how it had affected him.
He experienced lower anxiety levels in the morning, feeling relaxed and balanced. He also was more engaged with work and excited for the rest of the day. All fantastic stuff, but what caught my attention was that it gave him an outlet to express withheld emotions, which he says comes in handy when writing realistic characters.}

^M.Meaton

^{Yes, that is a ladybird.} 

^M.Meaton

Creativity And Mindfulness

I typically refer to a period in my life when I practised art in my downtime to relieve stress as rudimentary art therapy; however, at the time, I don't think I was aware that this existed. I had seen adult colouring books, knitting, and arts crafts used to lower anxiety, but I'd have a hard time expressing to you that my art phase was an attempt to practice art therapy! It did indeed stem out of an admiration for music. 

A couple of years back, when I was a teenager, I was listening to some isolated Beatles tracks at Abbey Road Studios. It was a really cool experience, but the best part was when the studio engineer decided to show us Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite Sheherazade. At the time, I didn't know why but this orchestral piece based on The Arabian Nights stuck with me. For the next couple of weeks, I forgot about this experience and continued living. It was until I decided to search the music on Spotify that I listened to it again and when I did, I felt inspired and invigorated.

Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his compositions taking inspiration from the book One Thousand and One Nights and pictures based on the literature. These paintings are also what inspired the composer to produce his masterpiece.

I can't remember what exactly happened, but I know that I was annoyed and frustrated. I was sitting in a stairwell at the time and flicked through my Spotify account. I think you can guess what I found. The instant I saw it in my library, I pressed play without a second thought.

If you ever get a chance to listen to Scheherazade, take it because it hurls you into the story and places you into the narrative! I was so swept away by the music that I hadn't realised I played it three times in a row. My actions may seem normal to some of you, but the entire orchestral work spans around an hour. I then replayed it an additional two times, but this time I felt creative, so I decided to make something. I find this funny in hindsight because pictures originally inspired Nikolai over 100 years ago. I didn't have any pens, paint, or paper, so I decided to use an app on my phone.

Before doing this, I would never really consider mobile art as art, but in reality, it doesn't matter the format or platform but the creation itself.

I was able to take a break from my problems. After I slowed down and calmed my thoughts, I realized that it wasn't as big a situation as I first thought. I could get over this and win. I also created something that I was proud of instead of wallowing in grief. I will always be grateful to the artists who inspire and nourish us with their art!

^{J.P.La'Touche}

I wonder if you were thinking, please show us the art already😅.

Funny enough, after I finished writing this, I unpaused an episode of Take Your Shoes Off by comedian and actor Rick Glassman. He and Ted Lasso writer Jamie Lee discussed the role of an artist in modern society.

 If you're feeling overwhelmed and have some extra time, get creative. It doesn't need to be big to have an impact. Trust me, have fun. It may be challenging at first but give it some time, and you'll be glad.

Oh yeah, share your creations with us via email or social media. We'd be happy to receive it.