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The Impact of Well-Being on Creativity (and Vice Versa)

Updated: Jun 19, 2024

There is nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.  – Ernest Hemingway




INTRODUCTION

The ‘tortured artist’ is a myth.  While there are plenty examples of extraordinary artists who did suffer from mental health issues (we might think of Van Gogh, Hemingway, Winehouse, Picasso, Dickens, London - the list is long and sad), empirical evidence convincingly connecting mental illness as a requirement for great art is limited.[i] 


In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl, a psychologist and Auschwitz survivor, said that it was not a quest for pleasure, or a quest for power that was the purpose of life, but a quest for meaning.  He claimed that people seek meaning in three ways: through work and doing something significant; love, because “other people matter”[ii]; and courage during difficult times.


In the extensive, and recent scientific studies of positive psychology, it has been repeatedly shown that life is about what makes it worth living.[iii] 


In this paper, I have elected to look at the tie between well-being, as described by the discipline of positive psychology, and creativity, examining the question:  Does well-being contribute to more enhanced creativity and conversely, does creativity contribute to a person’s well-being?  And finally, closing this loop, how can positive psychology coaching assist an artist to be more creative?

In seeking the answers to these questions, I have read extensively the works of Abraham Maslow, one of the first thinkers in the field of what later became positive psychology; Dr. Christopher Peterson, of the University of Michigan, Dr. Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania, the scholar who popularized the term positive psychology; Dr Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, University of Chicago, who, in his leading work on positive psychology, studied and coined the concept of ‘flow’, a state of concentration and absorption in a task,[iv] and other researchers who have continued to explore this area. 


My conclusion is that artists and creatives who seek balance in the elements that comprise well-being, are more in touch with their creativity, and that feeds into more creativity, which in turn creates a stronger sense of well-being.



WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Creativity, that ability to express oneself artistically, and to expand imagination, is one of the hallmarks of what it is to be human. Creativity is the process by which an individual generates ideas that are novel, surprising and compelling.[v]  


In other words, creativity is not limited to the artist.


“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately happy. What a man can be, he must be. This need we may call self-actualization.”
– Abraham Maslow

WHAT IS WELL-BEING?

Martin Seligman identified five elements that he states contribute to a person’s sense of well-being: positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and achievement (PERMA).

Let’s look at these elements in more detail.


Positive Emotions

Research shows that experiencing positive emotions regularly increases mental health, stress reduction, resilience, teamwork, creativity and problem solving.[vi] 


Remaining stuck in negative emotions can reduce someone’s willingness to take a risk and make unusual associations that impair their performance in a creative problem, like solving tasks.[vii]


Engagement

Engagement is the embodiment of Dr Csikszentmihalyi’s flow state, where a person uses all their skills, strengths and attention for a challenging task.[viii] People will engage in these tasks for the sake of the task itself and the pleasure they get out of performing it, regardless of any outcomes.  In other words the activity is its own reward.[ix] 


Positive Relationships

Humans are social beings by nature.  “Developing strong relationships is central to adaptation and is enabled by our capacity for love, compassion, kindness, empathy, self-sacrifice, teamwork, and cooperation.”[x] In the words of Christopher Peterson, who responded simply when asked to define positive psychology: “other people matter, period.”[xi] 


Meaning

Meaning is the pursuit of purpose and something greater than oneself, including family, religion, science, politics,[xii] and creative endeavours such as art.


Accomplishment

Like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the enlightened bird made famous by Richard Bach, people need to have a sense of accomplishment and achievement to increase their self-esteem and confidence.   Dr Christopher Peterson summed it up like this: “happiness is a product of our pursuits.”[xiii] 


Accomplishment is what we look for, even if it does not lead to any of the other well-being factors.


HOW DOES WELL-BEING RELATE TO CREATIVITY?

Tying these works together, we can see that well-being is dependent on the activities associated with creativity:  engagement, meaning and achievement.  For a person to get into a flow state, they must already be experiencing some positive emotions or at least have mastered their inner critics (even if temporarily). This, in turn leads to the ideal state for creating, followed by the sense of achievement of the creator.  This acts as a motivator for working intently on another creative project, which devolves into another positive experience and further accomplishment.[xiv]


“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” –Maya Angelou

The science in support of creative pursuits contributing to well-being is extensive.  Having already established that ‘the tortured artist’ is a myth unsubstantiated by fact, we can now go a step further and state that largely, “creative work is being done by happy, satisfied people.”[xv]  Dr. Peterson asserted that this is backed up by his science and added “unhappiness is the opposite of creativity.”[xvi]


WHAT OF THE POWER OF CREATIVITY TO ENHANCE WELL-BEING?


“Doing creative things today predicts improvement in well-being tomorrow.  Full stop.”[xvii]  – Tamlin Connor

With the understanding that well-being has a direct positive impact on creativity, now let’s turn to how creative activities can positively impact well-being. Research has indicated that participation in a creative activity is associated with higher positive attitudes on that day.[xviii]  Other studies have shown that working on creative activities, such as crafting, has resulted in decreased depression and isolation in people, including those with dementia.[xix]


THE ROLE OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY COACHING

IN CREATIVITY

Positive psychology coaching brings personal and psychological strengths to the fore to enhance positive states, traits and behaviours.[xx] While it does not aim to heal people with mental health issues, it does take a structured approach to identifying some negative thought patterns and emotions for healthy people wanting to make changes, using those as data points for identifying a desirable vision for the future, focusing on the client’s strengths and supporting her to form an action plan for achieving that desired state, understanding all the while that she is a whole, self-directed and creative individual. 


The structure of coaching as defined by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) is founded on these principles. 


“The gull sees farthest who flies highest.” --   Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach) 

Using the concepts set out by Maslow (understanding that instinctively we are seeking self-actualization), Seligman (that well-being is the sum of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment), Csikszentmihalyi (flow is when the involvement in an activity that nothing else seems to matter) and Peterson (creative work is done by happy, satisfied people), we can apply them in a coaching context as follows:


1.     Understanding the present situation, including negative emotions, to provide data for purposeful change.

2.     Focus on the client’s strengths, values, resources and their abilities to build upon them.

3.     Taking action towards goals, creating movement towards self-actualization.

4.     Broadening thoughts and possible actions, with projects and relationships.

5.     Being accountable for the desired state and having the discipline to do the things that will bring it to fruition.


SUMMARY

Artists must create if they are to have a sense of well being.  They can do this work with or without the PERMA elements, but if they succumb to negative emotions, such as self-doubt, self-criticism, force or self-punishment, their work is unlikely to be what it could have been were they able to use the power of the combination of well-being and creativity to achieve more. 

 

Creativity and well-being are for everyone, not the select few.  These are muscles that can be built with the motivation and discipline to show up and will reap the rewards of life that is flourishing.

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

RESOURCES

1.     Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, 1959, ISBN 978-0-8070-1427-1 

2.     Elaine Mead, 2020, Positive Psychology Coaching vs. Life Coaching: A Comparison PositivePsychology.com

3.     Ilona Boniwell, Carol Kauffmand, Jordan Silberman, 2010, The Positive Psychology Approach in Coaching

4.     Nadra Nittle, The Link Between Depression and Creativity, 2023

ENDNOTES


[i] Christa L. Taylor, University at Albany, State University of New York, Department of Psychology,  Creativity and Mood Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 

[ii] Interview with Dr Christopher Peterson, University of Pennsylvania

[iii] Seligman, Martin, Flourish, A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness & Well-Being, 2012, ISBN 9781439190760

[iv][iv] Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row. p. 15 ISBN 0-06-092043-2

[v] Sternberg RJ. Enhancing People’s Creativity. In: Kaufman JC, Sternberg RJ, editors. The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology. 2 ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2019. p. 88-104.

[ix] Ibid

[x] Ibid

[xi] Interview with Dr Christopher Peterson, University of Pennsylvania

[xiii] Ibid

[xiv] Georgia Shreve, The Creativity Circuit, MAPP, 2017

[xv] Interview with Dr Christopher Peterson, University of Pennsylvania

 

[xvi] Ibid

[xvii] Tamlin Connor, Doing Something Creative Today Can Boost Your Well-Beinghttps://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/doing_something_creative_can_boost_your_well_being, University of Otago

[xx] L.E. van Zyl, L.C. Roll, M.W. Stander, S. Richter, Frontiers in Psychology

 
 
 

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