Is There Such a Thing As Stress-Free Creativity?

I’ve been a creative person for as long as I could remember. Outside of writing, I love doing anything creative like crafts, puzzles, painting, listening to different music genres, and even enjoying creative problem-solving. While I love being a creative soul, sometimes I get pretty frustrated when something I create ends up not being exactly what I expected it to be.

I have endless amounts of poetry and stories from when I was a teenager up until today. Most of what I’ve written was my own private thoughts let out on the pages for therapeutic relief, and even then, I found myself stressed for having such intense emotions.

Although I will say, the writing prompt that I wrote about my bisexuality had me feeling genuinely happy to have finally written it and to be entirely out as a bisexual woman. Years of stress and panic have finally been made into something beautiful, and I’m proud of being free to express who I really am. I get that stress is a part of life, but shouldn’t I feel happiest when I’m creating all the time?

For example, I recently applied for a full-time writing job and did great with the interview part. When it came to the written assessment part of the interview, I tried my hardest to make my work stand out and did my best. It was tough to hear that although my work was impressive, the company chose a more qualified candidate. I felt and still feel defeated and stressed for nothing.

I love writing pieces that connect with readers. However, there are days when I wish I could take it easier on myself to enjoy the process, fall in love with learning new writing techniques and breathe and pace myself. This is why this week, I will challenge myself to create freely and not worry about constant perfectionism. Really challenge me to create without allowing myself to be stressed about making something beautiful out of pain.

I think that being creative free from stress is possible. Thinking happy thoughts, listening to upbeat music, reading an excellent uplifting book or article, and doing whatever else I feel will help boost those serotonin levels in my mixed-up mind. If anyone else has some tips for me on what they do to feel stress-free in the creative process, please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments. Happy creating!!

Is There Such a Thing As Stress-Free Creativity? was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.