Creativity: it really does work!

12 December 2013

This month I was reminded that creativity really does work!

Here at Willis Newson we spend much of our time examining the evidence base looking to see whether the impact of creativity and the arts on health and wellbeing has been proven. We advocate the value of creative expression for those living with various health conditions, seeking to better manage chronic pain, or struggling with depression and anxiety. We seek ways to use the arts to create community for those crippled by social isolation. This week I was reminded of how important creativity is for all of us and how the tiniest dose can have a huge impact.

A song came on the radio this morning that made me want to get up and dance. So I did. Joined by my six-year-old daughter, I experienced 3 minutes of pure exhilarating joy and set off for work with a spring in my step.

Last week, I had a tiring, long and rather dispiriting day. But rather than collapsing in front of the television at the end of it, I went to my monthly poetry group and spent 2 hours with a group of 5 friends cutting up photocopied poems to make new poems. It was wonderful! I forgot about time, forgot about work, talked and laughed and made some poems I felt rather proud of!

So, in these stressful times of cutbacks, I urge you to pay attention to your triple bottom line. Let us celebrate the triple-action-combined-power of art, of our creative responses to art, and of the expression unlocked by art.

In the words of writer Sue Mayfield, who created this poem for us: