Fostering Creativity

I've been an artist my entire life. But obviously, I wasn't always a professional artist. My creative work began as a seed planted during idle exploration as a small child. I.E. a pastime that I quickly developed an affinity for... and never put down. The pastime grew into a hobby, the hobby grew into an obsession, and the obsession rounded out my life's mission. But not all pastimes become professions, nor do they need to do so. 

"In polite society, we call our obsessions hobbies." -Stephen King

To be clear, when I say "hobbies", I mean things we enjoy doing in our free time, or time we are not committed to things like working, schooling, or other responsibilities. Hobbies come in all shapes and sizes and are not strictly art or craft related. They can be everything from hunting to collecting stamps. 

flower arranging

"... developing a muscle memory with the necessary skills has a seldom appreciated side effect."

baking

The common denominator is that these recreational activities  engage our brains, and sometimes entertain, amuse, and calm us  while we do them. They call on us to develop a level of expertise in  order to engage with them and enjoy them.

Developing that expertise, interacting with the different aspects of the activity, and, as a side effect, possibly developing a muscle memory with the necessary skills has a seldom appreciated side effect. It strengthens your creative muscle. Meaning that practicing something you enjoy, with repetition, developing skills, learning to anticipate unknowns, and creating solutions for them helps you to be more creative and resourceful in other areas of your life. I should know. I'm an artist! 😂

Watch a short I shared on YouTube, "Inspiration: A Sketch":

Get busy: Apparently, I'm not alone in my belief that hobbies strengthen our creativity. Some articles that I like on hobbies are linked below!

While I don't feel it's necessary to designate "who" a hobby is for, I do like the breakdown of what a hobby is and the comprehensive list of ideas in this article:  69 Creative Hobbies for a Better You in 2023

This is a short but inspiring list that may get your creative juices flowing: 6 Hobbies That Can Build Up Your Creativity And Imagination

Another good list, though you will have to navigate some ads to get through the content: 60 Best Creative hobbies - Stoke your curiosity and creativity.

This article delves more into the psychological benefits of having what the writer calls "side projects". It's an older article, but the points are still valid:  How Creative Hobbies Make Us Better At Basically Everything