2.5. Creativity and wellbeing

What is the relationship between well-being and creativity? How can you promote your well-being in different avenues of your creative life?

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What might you do today to take care of yourself?

The human mind is designed to set goals and desired outcomes that have some level of difficulty (Berkman, 2018). Behind our actions, there is a goal. We study because… We get a job because… We take care of ourselves because…

To contribute to society, to have a family and friends and to enjoy life, we need to take care of ourselves first. It’s like the message we hear when we are onboard a plane, “Put on your mask before helping others.”

Now, consider the statement “I take good care of myself.” On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (at the top), how high of a priority is this goal? And what do you do to achieve it?

This brings us to the next question. What is well-being to you?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines well-being as the state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous. Well-being researchers discuss different dimensions of well-being at the individual level – emotional, psychological and physical (Martela & Sheldon, 2019, Warr & Nielsen, 2018, Fredrickson et al, 2015). There are different areas of life, like work, family relationships and friendships, where we may want to take care of our well-being (see Figure 2.5.1.).

As we can see from the figure above, well-being is reflected in:

• the ratio of positive and negative emotions you experience during a day;
• the level of satisfaction with what you achieve; and
• the physical stamina.

In this subchapter, we’ll focus on the first two types of well-being and how creativity can be the driver in enhancing them in professional life.

Let’s ask a third question. What are you already doing in your creative life to take care of your well-being?

There are some personal strategies related to self-awareness that we can develop for a higher sense of well-being in all the three dimensions described in Figure 2.5.1. (Waters et al., 2022). For instance, at Aalto University, the Oasis of Radical Wellbeing suggests accepting our emotions, cultivating self-compassion, frequent movement, high-quality connections, etc.

Creativity, understood as the use of your creative thinking to solve problems in work contexts, can lead to a sense of mastery and achievement. When understood as the exploration and experimentation of your creative identity in your work life, creativity can lead to a sense of meaning, self-actualization, and authenticity. When creativity is understood as the engagement in artistic activities, such as crafts, drawing, singing, dancing, etc, it can bring positive emotions, as such awe, joy, gratitude, hope, inspiration, and vitality.

Here, our focus is on choosing creativity as a strategy for living a life of purpose, meaning, and joy. In this sub-chapter, we’ll explore what it means to live with creativity and what is its impact on our subjective well-being.

Creative problem-solving and emotional awareness

Have you ever participated in a daring project, without having any prior experience and knowing it can be a bit of a stretch for you? How did you feel during the project? How did you feel when the project was over?

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Smith et al., (2022) found that experts whose jobs require creative thinking and skills experience fewer positive emotions compared with individuals who use their creativity in their free time. This may be explained by the nature of the work-related problems, which involve high levels of complexity and uncertainty. Finding risky and daring problems that affect the lives of millions of people, solving unexpected and ill-defined problems, and implementing a new project are three types of work challenges that require creative approaches (see Figure 2.5.2 below).

To get involved in one of the above work situations is to go through a creative process where emotions are central in guiding creative people towards solutions. At the outset, negative emotions, like dissatisfaction and frustration, direct the attention upon the problems that are worth solving, provided there is a perceived organizational support for creativity (Zhou & George, 2001).

When the creative process is ongoing, positive emotions signal that the implementation of the solution goes well. By contrast, negative emotions tell that something is not quite all right, and more exploration is required. Overall, understanding and managing emotions that arise during the creative process are essential, so the emotions work in the service of original and useful outcomes.

Therefore, self-awareness and self-regulation during the creative process influence the psychological and emotional well-being of the creator. In addition, throughout the creative process, experts may be driven by the need for autonomy, competence and relatedness, which are independent indicators of general meaning in life (Martela et al., 2023, Martela et al., 2018). Upon completion of the creative process, creators will enjoy a sense of accomplishment.

The more challenging and novel the problem that requires creative thinking, the more highs and lows in the experienced well-being. Being a creative problem-solver at work is a matter of emotional awareness and perseverance, all in the name of a sense of autonomy, competence, and impact.

When it comes to the effect of being engaged in radically creative activities on well-being, Petrou & Jongerling (2022) uncovered that in the context of the COVID-19 crisis at work, incremental creativity is related to both employee well-being and performance, while radical creativity is primarily related to employee development. Radical creativity at work is not born out of satisfaction or self-sufficient states. Quite the opposite, it may become a valuable personal strategy of proactivity in times of crisis.

Therefore, when organizations want radical creativity, leadership should support the employees to break the rules in a way that protects employee well-being. For instance, Astro Teller, the head of X, the former Google X innovation lab, discussed in a TED talk about the secret to making people feel comfortable working on big, risky projects and exploring daring ideas:

“Rather than avoid the mess, pretend it’s not there, we’ve tried to make that our strength.”

In the first stages of a radically creative project, employees spend a great deal of their time proving how the project could be faulty. X’s mission is “to create radical new technologies to solve some of the world’s hardest problems”. A team of inventors, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, works on the world’s toughest problems, like clean energy, food supply, health, etc. When experimental projects don’t go as hoped, people involved in the project receive bonuses and positive reinforcement (Sawyer, 2017).

Summing up, creativity is needed to solve ill-defined and novel challenges in the workplace. While such challenges come with uncertainty, others’ resistance, and a storm of emotions, solving them leads to personal growth and a sense of achievement. Organizational support is valuable, especially when companies want their employees to engage in radical creativity.

 

Aligning your creative identity with your work role

How well is your creative identity aligned with your professional role?

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Creative identity is about seeing your creativity at the core of who you are and what you do. When you are aware that you are a creative individual, yet you have a professional role where you feel disconnected from your creative identity, your development is stunted (De Valverde et al., 2017). You may feel frustrated and disengaged from work.

Luckily, these negative feelings can be excellent motivators for you to set a new career goal for yourself, where you feel like the right creative person in the right job (Velcu-Laitinen, 2022). There can be at least four new trajectories that reflect a specific way to express your creative identity:

• Do you think you are a creative thinker who loves initiative-taking? You may then look for entrepreneurial jobs within a company or why not, starting your own business.
• Do you think you are a resourceful person, who likes to motivate people to get things done? You may want to take on a leadership role.
• Did you discover an artistic skill that you’re ready to exercise as a pro? You may then look for a job in one of the creative industries.
• Did you tap into some knowledge area that you absorb like a sponge? You might then be interested in being recognized as a niche expert.

What if you don’t see any possibility of fulfilling your creativity at work? Then you will be experiencing the opposite of well-being, which is ill-being. Are you the right creative person for the right job? If yes, congratulations. If not, there are ways to get there to a job where you feel meaningful and accomplished.

To conclude, the satisfaction and sense of meaning for a creative individual depends on the possibility of them realizing their creative identity in a specific work environment.

Creative hobbies and well-being

Studies show that creative hobbies promote well-being in many ways.

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What, if any, is an artistic activity you have performed lately? Was it work-related or a hobby?

Artistic activities are centred around an artistic skill, such as drawing, design, creating music, photography, visual arts, writing, etc. A creative hobby can be an artistic activity, but it can also be any activity you engage in creatively as your favourite pastime, for the sake of doing it. It may be a distraction from other worries. Or it can be a way to develop your creative identity in a way you can’t do it in a professional role. Irrespective of your motive, it means you enjoy being engaged in a specific creative activity without expecting to be paid for it or gain recognition as an expert.

Being active in a specific creative hobby enables emotional well-being through the experience of positive emotions, and psychological well-being through a sense of meaning, purpose and competence (Smith et al., 2022). For instance, Silvia et al., (2014) examined a sample of college students, out of which about one-quarter were majoring in the arts. They found that the individuals who reported doing something creative during a typical day – drawing, writing, creative cooking, etc – were more likely to feel happy and active.

Conner et al. (2018) found similar findings. Doing something an artistic activity during a day leads to more positive emotions during the respective day. According to Richards’ (2010), creative activities are a cause and a sign of well-being.

You may be already going to the gym or running for physical health. But are you ready to dedicate some time to a creative hobby, in the name of flourishing?

In this sub- chapter, we discussed the relationship between choosing your creativity and the impact on emotional and psychological well-being. More specifically, we discussed three understandings of creativity:

• As the creative thinking conducive to seeing big and daring challenges, solving unexpected and ill-defined problems, and implementing a new project.
• As the creative identity that is reflected in the professional role.
• As engagement in creative or artistic activities as a hobby.

The overall takeaway is that creativity is a must for both happiness and human development.

References

Beghetto, R. A. (2006). Creative self-efficacy: Correlates in middle and secondary students. Creativity research journal, 18(4), 447-457.

Berkman, E. T. (2018). The neuroscience of goals and behavior change. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 70(1), 28-44. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000094

Conner, T. S., DeYoung, C. G., & Silvia, P. J. (2018). Everyday creative activity as a path to flourishing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 13(2), 181-189.

De Valverde, J., Sovet, L., & Lubart, T. (2017). Self-construction and creative “life design”. In The creative self (pp. 99-115). Academic Press.

Fredrickson, B. L., Grewen, K. M., Algoe, S. B., Firestine, A. M., Arevalo, J. M., Ma, J., & Cole, S. W. (2015). Psychological well-being and the human conserved transcriptional response to adversity. PloS one, 10(3), e0121839.

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Martela, F., Ryan, R. M., & Steger, M. F. (2018). Meaningfulness as satisfaction of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and beneficence: Comparing the four satisfactions and positive affect as predictors of meaning in life. Journal of happiness studies, 19, 1261-1282.

Martela, F., & Sheldon, K. M. (2019). Clarifying the concept of well-being: Psychological need satisfaction as the common core connecting eudaimonic and subjective well-being. Review of General Psychology, 23(4), 458-474.

Martela, F., Lehmus-Sun, A., Parker, P. D., Pessi, A. B., & Ryan, R. M. (2023). Needs and well-being across Europe: Basic psychological needs are closely connected with well-being, meaning, and symptoms of depression in 27 European countries. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14(5), 501-514.

Petrou, P., & Jongerling, J. (2022). Incremental and radical creativity in dealing with a crisis at work. Creativity Research Journal, 1-17.

Richards, R. (2010). Everyday creativity. The Cambridge handbook of creativity, 189-215.

Sawyer, K., (2017). Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration (Revised Edition). Basic Books.

Silvia, P. J., Beaty, R. E., Nusbaum, E. C., Eddington, K. M., Levin-Aspenson, H., & Kwapil, T. R. (2014). Everyday creativity in daily life: An experience-sampling study of “little c” creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8(2), 183.

Smith, K., Pickering, A., & Bhattacharya, J. (2022). The creative life: A daily diary study of creativity, affect, and well-being in creative individuals. Creativity Research Journal, 34(4), 460-479.

Velcu-Laitinen, O., (2022). How to Develop Your Creative Identity at Work. Apress.

Warr, P., & Nielsen, K. (2018). Wellbeing and work performance. In E. Diener, S. Oishi, & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being. Salt Lake City, UT: DEF Publishers. DOI:nobascholar.com

Waters, L., Algoe, S. B., Dutton, J., Emmons, R., Fredrickson, B. L., Heaphy, E.,& Steger, M. (2022). Positive psychology in a pandemic: Buffering, bolstering, and building mental health. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 17(3), 303-32.

Zhou, J., & George, J. M. (2001). When job dissatisfaction leads to creativity: Encouraging the expression of voice. Academy of Management journal, 44(4), 682-696.