Part 3: Creativity is Medicine.

Creativity doesn't just ease your anxiety, but potentially the world's.

If you missed the first two parts of this series, here’s a quick recap:

1). The antidote to anxiety is creativity (based on Martha Beck’s new book “Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose”).

2). There are limitless everyday ways to be creative and therefore less anxious

Now for the grand finale, the best news of all.

Creativity doesn’t just make us less anxious, it helps us solve the things in the world that make us anxious to begin with.

Climate change?

Food scarcity?

Emerging diseases?

The through-line to solutions for all of these is creativity. The best we have to offer is our ideas. They can’t be outsourced or algorithmed. Original thinking solves the world’s most vexing problems, wins its most coveted awards, and is a life-force that sustains and evolves us as a species. So by tapping into our creativity, we do more than heal ourselves. We tap into new ideas that have the power to solve all kinds of crises. As research has shown, Nobel winners are 22 times more likely to perform or act, 12 times more likely to write fiction or poetry and seven times more likely to craft or paint than their peers.

The image below I created to summarize the beautiful ecosystem of this truth.

We start in an anxious state. Then, knowing the new research about shifting out of the anxiety spiral, we take up a creative pursuit. Not only are our worries eased, but the “green light” state shifts our nervous system into a place of ingenious problem-solving. It makes sense that inspiration flourishes when we are in an undefended place of flow and creation.

Knowing this, workplaces, households, schools, hospitals and all places should center creativity for its people. Pay attention to where your voice, vote and dollars can advocate for this in your corner of our broken world.

Until next time, remember that creativity knows no bounds.