Creativity: The modern-day stress buster!
Highlights from our creativity webinar with Creative Producer DK and Groov VP Clinical Dr Fiona Crichton.
Why is creativity so vital for wellbeing? How can we make more space for creativity in life and work? And why can being creative feel so scary and vulnerable sometimes?
These are just some of the big, beautiful questions Dr Fiona and DK discussed in our recent webinar, Creativity: The modern-day stress buster!
The duo also explored:
How to find your voice and share your story
The brain science of creativity and wellbeing
The inherent creative power of saying “I don’t know”
How to embark on a new creative project
And much more
Watch the webinar recording for the full discussion or read our top takeaways below.
How to find your voice and share your story
DK is a Creative Producer and wearer of many other creative hats. He’s the founder of a very unique podcast, Creative Welly, and of the annual Creative Leadership New Zealand Conference. He works 1:1 with CEOs and senior executives to “craft delicious learning experiences” and as a speaker coach helping people overcome their fears of public speaking.
But DK’s main purpose in life – his North Star – is helping people find their voice.
“He’s about the extraction of story, about nudging us to find our truth,” says Dr Fiona.
Here are some of DK’s top tips for finding your voice and sharing your story:
Acknowledge there’s no ‘one way’ to share or create as we’re all so different
Understand it’s normal to feel scared about speaking out or being seen (it’s the way our brains are wired)
Ditch the rehearsed scripts and learn through doing
See creativity as a way to connect and contribute
And when it still feels scary, DK encourages people to focus on how their creativity and vulnerability can help others.
“Embrace the possibility of adding value to other people’s lives, of being a creative outlet for other people.”
The brain science of creativity and wellbeing
Dr Fiona Crichton is a health psychology specialist and VP Clinical at Groov. One of her many, many strengths is explaining brain science in an accessible way, and she did a beautiful job of breaking down what happens in the brain when we engage in creative pursuits.
When we harness creativity, we harness our ability to problem solve, our ability to create new neural pathways, and to join the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex
Staying creative can be protective for brain health, especially as we age
Creativity also increases dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins – our feel-good neurotransmitters
It’s also hugely beneficial for reducing ruminating thoughts, as it gives us something to focus on and distract from those thoughts
“Creativity is a way to give our busy minds a break, and that’s why it can be a modern-day stress buster,” says Dr Fiona.
Read more: Creativity and the brain
The inherent creative power in saying “I don’t know”
When it comes to creativity, DK believes these three little words – I don’t know – are some of the most important.
“Creativity is that act of saying, I don’t know. It’s also an act of innocence,” says DK.
“That means we can try something new because you don’t know the answer, so that means we have to try something different.”
Whenever he embarks on a new creative project, he likes to start with a blank page.
“I like blank pages, what’s called white space in innovation terms. Going somewhere no one’s ever gone, starting with a blank piece of paper.”
How to embark on a new creative project
Try these tips next time you’re starting a new creative journey:
Start by embracing all you don’t know and invite imagination in
Ask yourself the question: What’s never been done before?
Be open to new ways of thinking and doing
Write down your constraints (budget, time, talent, etc)
Use your constraints to your advantage as a way to inspire more creative thinking
Thanks Dr Fiona and DK for sharing your wisdom with the Groov community. Remember to watch the webinar recording for more insights! To find out more about DK, visit https://justadandak.com.