Read our posts about Creativity

27Feb

Expressive Writing for Mental Wellbeing

Dennis Relojo-Howell

anxiety, creativity, depression, wellbeing

Soul

Expressive writing , sometimes called written emotional disclosure, is a fancy term for such a simple act: expressing oneself through writing. Most of us have done it at one point in our lives through keeping a journal or a diary. But of course, with modern age, it is now being done with a keyboard. To some extent, keeping a personal blog can be considered as a form of expressive writing. Tracing the roots of expressive writing Expressive writing is a therapy introduced by Pennebaker and Beall in the late 1980s. Their pioneering work (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986)...
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07Feb

Craftivist Collective: Craft for Wellbeing

Welldoing

creativity, culture, wellbeing

Soul

As the name suggests, Craftivist Collective, founded in 2009, is a movement which seeks to combine craft and activism. Their aim is to provoke awareness and discussion of issues surrounding local and global poverty and injustice. The World Health Organisation includes “contributing to society” as one of their paths to wellbeing. This was the focus of the most recent Craftivist exhibition, which was held in Aldgate East in London. The project, titled #wellMAKING, was the culmination of more than 50 ‘stitch-ins’ held across the nation. It’s goal was to...
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04Feb

Writing Music to Overcome Depression

Leanne Brookes

creativity, depression, music, wellbeing

Mind

One afternoon I had a moment of clarity and wrote all of the words, in one prolific sitting, to a song for my Dad. He moved to America when I was four and I dragged a heavy anchor of anger and disappointment behind me most of my life as a result. I describe in the piano ballad how I was confused and missed him as a child, felt that he didn't know me as a teenager, as an adult I needed him and finally in the present day, I forgave him. Along with a very long letter, I sent this song, which I called ’The Gift’, to my Dad in the mail. It was the closure that I...
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23Jan

Culture Tip: PJ Harvey's 'Recording in Progress'

Camilla Nicholls

creativity, culture

Soul

PJ Harvey’s collaboration with Artangel and Somerset House, Recording in Progress, is an extraordinary insight not just into the recording of music but the making of it too. It is probably one of the most absorbing cultural experiences in London right now. An ‘architectural installation’ by Something & Son with one-way glazing allows groups of up to 45 people a 45 minute session watching PJ Harvey, her musicians, engineers and producers record her ninth album. The slight figure of Harvey stands beneath a bespoke coat of arms engrossed in her work. Her...
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09Dec

What is Music Therapy?

Gráinne Foster

career, counselling, creativity, music, therapy

Mind

Learn about the fantastic work music therapists do, and what music therapy is.
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21Nov

Culture Tip: Grayson Perry's Who Are You?

Camilla Nicholls

creativity, culture

Soul

The Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry talking recently about Who Are You?, his display of new works at the National Portrait Gallery in London, commented that, “identity is one of those words that gets used a lot particularly in political terms and it always seems a slippery term to me”. In this diverse collection of 14 portraits shown in the Gallery’s nineteenth and twentieth century rooms Perry uses his fierce intelligence and particularly winning aesthetic to try to pin that term down. The works have all been made in response to meeting...
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08Sep

How Creativity Can Help With Grieving

Sarah Royle

bereavement, creativity, death, therapy

Mind

Employing creativity and craft techniques can help people overcome loss and grief says Sarah Royle
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02Jul

Writing Fiction Airs My Demons

Joanna Briscoe

books, creativity, therapy, writing

Soul

We all know that diary and letter writing can be cathartic, but writing longer fiction works as therapy on several different levels says novelist Joanna Briscoe
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28May

Intuition: Unlock the Power

Dr Cate Howell

creativity, dreams

Soul

Philosophers and scientists have endeavored to understand intuition for thousands of years, and many of the great spiritual leaders have talked about intuition. Psychotherapist Carl Jung classified our experience into thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition, and he described intuition as being like a ‘compass’ in life. Intuition also involves the input of nerve networks around the heart and gut. Modern psychology and neuroscience has identified that the non-dominant part of the brain (your right brain if you are right handed) is the site of visual,...
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12May

Why I Left My Enchanted Cage

Charlotte Du

creativity, emotions, society

Soul

Charlotte Du Cann is a former fashion editor with green principles
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