11/29/2025
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Living up to their creative potential might be the simplest way for someone to improve their life. “Make creativity a life habit,” Arthur C. Brooks wrote in 2024. “That means working at your creative practice regularly, not just when you feel like it.” https://theatln.tc/4pZMmtRv
Modern research in neuroscience and psychology has revealed that actively engaging in creative pursuits is an effective way to gain relief from negative emotions and increase one’s sense of well-being. In 2021, researchers found that for students and working adults, there’s a positive correlation between self-perceived creativity and life satisfaction. Activities such as poetry therapy can also “reduce anxiety and post-traumatic-stress symptoms in patients,” Brooks continues. Even “simply working on creative solutions to common problems can relieve psychological burdens.”
“I have found that many professional artists—an unusually anxious group—seek relief from their affliction by losing themselves,” Brooks writes. Neuroscience offers an explanation for how creativity can lower negative emotions: A 2015 study found that during the idea-generation phase of writing, the part of the brain associated with mind-wandering is especially active. This “suggests that creative activity might have some of the same analgesic effects on stress as contemplative exercises do,” Brooks explains.
With so many creative outlets to choose from, finding one that “fits your personality and tastes can be daunting,” Brooks explains. Luckily, your personality type can offer clues: “Extroverted, novelty-seeking people should try inventive, public avenues such as improv drama and jazz; introverted people who like new experiences might do better in the field of fiction writing,” Brooks writes. “Extroverts who prefer to interpret the works of others can try theater or classical music; introverts in the same vein might prefer studying poetry.”
Regardless of your chosen artistic activity, you will benefit from exercising your creative brain. “Make a habit of your creative pursuit, and feel better as a result—and maybe even inspired,” Brooks continues.
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🎨: Jan Buchczik
