If you’ve made a new year’s resolution to be more creative this year, you’re certainly not alone. I know that many people aim to bring more creativity into their lives because it’s really good for your mental wellbeing, as well as your dexterity and sense of achievement. So, I’ve come up with some easy ways that you can be more creative in 2022, along with the reasons why it’s going to boost your happiness too…
Last year, I did some research into the ways that creativity can boost your mental wellbeing and discovered that diving into a creative physical task, such as painting, knitting, sewing, drawing etc, can help us to disconnect from our busy digital-led lives and bring about a sense of calm.
The reason why doing something creative helps us to feel relaxed and peaceful while we’re crafting is because, often, the activity simply can’t be rushed. You’ve got to slow down in order to complete the project successfully – have you ever tried to knit, paint or sew in a hurry? You’re going to make mistakes if you do, so the pleasing by-product of doing these tasks is that you have to slow down for a while.
Plus, you have to concentrate on the task, which takes your mind away from any troubling thoughts and brings you into the present moment. As meditation and mindfulness are all about staying in the moment, this is one of the main benefits of crafting – you can have a moment’s peace from your thoughts.
Another bonus is that your hands are busy so there’s no chance of checking your phone or working on your computer at the same time – your hands are already too busy holding a paintbrush or knitting needles to be able to type on Twitter too. This helps your mind to unwind and not be ‘on call’ at all times – you’ll get a moment’s peace while you’re creating.
The final mental boost that you’ll get from creativity is that sense of achievement you’ll feel when you complete a task. There’s nothing better than stepping back to admire your completed painting or to pull on that bobble hat you’ve been knitting – you can feel proud that you’ve made something yourself and that you saw the project through to completion. And the good thing is that the project doesn’t have to be rushed to completion – it can take months – but you’ll still feel that sense of satisfaction once you’ve finished.
Here are some ideas to help you get creative in the new year:
Get arty with the ‘Create’ book
The newly launched book Create With Andy G is the ideal way to get started on your creative journey. It’s a combination of an art course, practical creative tasks and sketchbook space for you to experiment further. You can work your way through the book at your own pace task by task, and you’ll feel that sense of achievement after every one.
There’s a video class that accompanies the book to guide you through each mini-project, making it easier than ever to feel like you can do it and will be happy to give it a go yourself. There’s also a dedicated webpage for the book that’s accessed through a QR code in the book, which offers a curated selection of creative links for further reading so that you can explore your creativity more throughout 2022.
This inspirational creative book is available to buy directly from Andy through his Etsy shop and will be posted to you free of charge so you can get started on your creative journey straight away!
Learn to knit online
One of my personal resolutions last year was to learn to knit and it got started with Alice’s online course Learn to Knit Online. The video lessons break down the process into manageable chunks – so within a few minutes I had managed to cast on, knit multiple rows, and it wasn’t long before I was actually knitting different effects including garter stitch, stockinette, seed stitch and ribbing.
The sense of satisfaction when you’ve completed a swatch of a stitch and it all looks how you intended it to is immense. I also found that it has been great for my dexterity as it’s been keeping my hands flexible – especially when I while away hours trying out the techniques I’ve learnt. Now that I’ve started knitting, I don’t ever want to stop!
Craft with kids
If you want to find a creative activity that involves the whole family, there’s nothing more fun than pom-pom making. If you’ve been on my Instagram account over Christmas you’ll know that I’ve been joining in with some live craft-along tutorials with Emma from Pom Stitch Tassel. It kept me away from my PC over Christmas – because there’s nothing more tempting than an unread email inbox! – and it gave me a chance to start the day in a creative way.
Emma creates DIY craft kits that contain everything you need to complete a pom-pom making project in one box. They’re great for children and will help to inspire a new generation of crafters, as well as reignite your own creativity while you craft with the kids, and help you to spend some quality time together as a family.
I hope this blog post has given you some ideas for achieving your new year’s resolution to be more creative in 2022. Let me know what crafty or arty projects you’re planning to do this year in the comments below, I’d love to hear your resolutions and plans. 🙂
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