I recently felt a jolt of creative blah!!!!! And then slowly the blah began to shift…… and the shift came when a client reconnected after being hospitalized for severe depression. She said that the only thing which kept her going was making bracelets and necklaces for her ten year-old daughter who visited her each day with her mother. My client shared that, just when she thought that there was nothing else left, the simple pleasure of threading bracelets brought joy to her daughter and that made her reconnect with her inner soul which she felt was gone. This narrative couldn’t have come at a better time…not only to jolt me out of creative blah and try to look at simple things that could bring me joy in my life…like watching my own daughters making me bead bracelets or reading the book Creativity Cure  authored by  Carrie and Alton Barron. In a synopsis Carrie utilizes writing and meditation, and Alton emphasizes exercise and physical exploration as creative actions which lead to long-term happiness and well-being. One of their tools is using hands for happiness. Carrie  makes a powerful statement that purposeful hand use enhances well-being in a technologically saturated culture and backs it sharing that research has shown that hand activity from knitting to woodworking to growing vegetables or chopping them are useful for decreasing stress, relieving anxiety, and modifying depression. There is value in the routine action, the mind rest, and the purposeful creative, domestic or practical endeavor.  Functioning hands also foster a flow in the mind that leads to spontaneous joyful, creative thought. Peak moments occur as one putters, ponders and daydreams. One can be tickled, moved or transformed by a thought or idea along the way as well as by the endpoint. And trying it all together-a simple act of making bead necklaces is all it takes.

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA