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People often like to bring up how there are so many benefits to being creative. But what they often leave out of the conversation? What those benefits to being creative actually are. I could honestly probably write a whole book on the ways being creative has been beneficial for me (and maybe one day I will…) but today I’ll just discuss 3 of the many benefits to being creative: increased confidence, improved emotional expression, and having a safe haven.

Creativity Builds Confidence

Nothing has built my confidence quite like getting more in tune with my creativity and seeing what I’m truly capable of creating. You have to push yourself past the initial discomfort (and perhaps disappointment) with not being immediately good at something, but once you see your skills start to really improve, it is a huge boost of confidence.

Once you do it with one creative hobby, it becomes easier to see that you really can teach yourself any skill you want, as long as you’re willing to stick with it long enough to see the results. And once you see the results? You get an incredible confidence boost from looking at something awesome that you’ve created.

It’s also nice if/when you share what you’ve made with people and they compliment what you’ve made – but that’s an added bonus to your own satisfaction with your art. 😉

Creativity Aids Emotional Expression

Another one of the amazing benefits to being creative is that it offers an effective and accessible way to express emotions. I think this can be especially powerful for my fellow neurodivergent crew, as many of us struggle to really process emotions or to even just identify emotions.

I have alexithymia which means it’s hard for me to identify and communicate emotions. One of the reasons I think creativity has been so beneficial for my mental health is that is gives me an alternate way to express emotions that previously my brain was struggling to process.

Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that every time you’re creative, it needs to be some incredibly emotionally expressive and deep artwork. You don’t need to lay your soul bare in every creation if you don’t want to. Something as simple as scribbling with a red marker when you’re feeling angry can be a great release (take it from me, I’ve done it). Creativity aids emotional expression in whatever way(s) you want it to

Creativity Provides a Safe Haven

Last, but definitely not least, is the fact that creativity provides a sort of safe haven. One of the best parts of being creative? You can do whatever the fuck you want. It’s YOUR art. You don’t ever have to show it to someone else if you don’t want to. That means you can make it whatever you want and need it to be.

Things in our world are really scary in a lot of ways right now. Add to that anything you have going on in your personal life and you may really need a safe haven to retreat into. Your creative practice can be exactly that. Whether it becomes your safe haven by offering a way for you to express yourself like mentioned above or it’s your safe haven because it gives you a way to take your mind off of whatever’s troubling you, creativity can be exactly what you need when it feels like everything is too much. It has certainly been that for me in many instances.

Key Takeaways

• Creativity builds confidence because you watch your skills improve over time.
• Sticking with one creative hobby proves you can teach yourself new skills, as long as you keep going.
• The biggest confidence boost often comes from your own satisfaction with what you made. Praise from others is just a nice extra.
• Creativity supports emotional expression, especially when it’s hard to name or talk about feelings (like with alexithymia).
• Your art doesn’t have to be deep or serious, even simple messiness (like angry scribbles) can help.
• A creative practice can be a safe haven. It’s yours, there are no rules, and you never have to share it if you don’t want to.
• When life feels like too much, making something can help you cope, reset, and breathe for a bit.

Hopefully now you can see a little bit more clearly what some of the benefits to being creative are. There are probably about a hundred more that we could think of, but these are just a few examples. Tell me – what is the biggest benefit of creativity that you’ve noticed?

If you’re wanting to be more creative so you can reap some of these benefits, but you don’t know where to start, check out my list of 25 creative hobbies to try. They are ALL hobbies that can be started on a budget – no crazy expensive supplies or tools needed. And if you already have a hobby but feel creatively stuck, this list of places to find creative inspiration can help get the ideas flowing again. Let me know what you end up trying out!