I am a full-time working professional during the day and an art hobbyist in the evenings. I often immerse myself into creating art & craft projects & this provides me a way to escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Lately I have realised that apart from giving me the peace & quiet, my hobby also subconsciously shapes my attitude & perspective towards life. It often teaches me something new about myself, something that makes me wonder how beautiful it would be if I consciously implement these learning in my daily life too.
Benefits of living a creative life
Sharing my top learning that practising art & craft as a hobby has taught me.
1. Good things take time
Working on art projects develops immense amount of patience. You need to work patiently and consistently without thinking much about the outcome. As a result, you get something beautiful created that you are proud of and that too without getting anxious or worried. Wouldn’t this method help us achieve better results for other things in life too?
2. The get going attitude
You start an art project with a mental picture of how you want it to look and make plans accordingly. Often you realise midway that it is not going the way you had imagined. Instead of getting demotivated or banishing & restarting all over again, you start thinking more creatively to work it out and get going nevertheless. Mostly, you end up with something better than what you had imagined. Life is the same, it never goes strictly according to plans – it is up to us how we want to live it!
3. Living for yourself
You create an art project based on what you feel like, how you want it to look like & what colours or elements you want to use. You don’t decide any of those thinking what others would say about it because it’s ‘your’ artwork. You are fine with whatever resources you have and you don’t get to the feeling of comparisons. This makes you happy! Something to consider in this world of social media & self-obsession, isn’t it?
4. It’s the little things that make life beautiful
When you regularly create something, you are always on the lookout for inspiration. You start observing everything and everyone around with positivity – colourful flowers, painted walls, historic doors, other artworks, people, etc. You subconsciously start exploring the beauty around and feel happier with no space for negative thoughts in your mind. You start living more in the present moment.
5. Don’t fear failure
While doing art & craft activities, you don’t feel scared about experimenting with colours, materials, elements, etc because deep inside, you are not working towards avoiding failure, but for creating something worthwhile. While in real life, we are generally working towards success, always with a fear of failing – quite different, right? Now it is up to us to follow an approach which seems more pleasant!
Most of us have heard about these learning since childhood. But if you feel that it is difficult for you to practice them in real life, make a little bit of space for art & creativity in your life. You will be surprised to see the benefits.
Here are some inspirations for you to try from my art gallery.
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Neha is the ideator behind Colours & Smiles. While working full-time, she is trying to make more space for art & craft hobby in her life. She strongly believes in the therapeutic benefits of practising art & craft and wants to encourage more & more people to pursue artistic hobbies.