More of us than ever before have taken up a creative hobby during lockdown. It has given us something to focus on, and where we have been able to find others also doing the same thing, it has led to a much-needed sense of community. Katherine Elizabeth is an award-winning milliner (www.katherineelizabethhats.com) and has created a thriving Facebook community where she teaches hat-making to hundreds of women. Not surprisingly, she has seen its popularity surge during the current climate. She has written this expert piece for Female First looking at the importance of having a creative outlet:
Katherine Elizabeth
It is so important to have a creative outlet.
Doing something you enjoy has health benefits: it can focus our mind during scary times like covid, help to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression.
If you have experienced a difficult time, a creative outlet can help you express your feelings and experiences. Being creative can be like mindfulness when you are in the zone.
Having a creative outlet can help to distract you from stressful things, such as worries from work. Whilst you're creating, you're focusing on the drawing or item you are making, so other concerns go out of the window.
In 2015, Psychologist and Art Therapist Dr Cathy Malchiodi cited multiple studies confirming that being creative can increase positive emotions, lessen depressive symptoms, reduce stress, decrease anxiety, and even improve immune system functioning.
Another reason for being creative is that sense of achievement that you get. You have created this piece of art yourself, something that others will love and cherish, you have given something beautiful back into the world.
When I create a hat for a client, I feel a sense of achievement. I look at their outfit, the customer's personality and then design a unique piece for them. It gives me so much pleasure to see the clients face light up and feel proud to wear it.
Creativity also improves your health and by increasing your happiness, it in turn improves mental health and boosts your immune system. When you are in that flow, you are entirely absorbed and lose all sense of time. When you let yourself go like this, it reduces anxiety, boosts your mood, and calms your body.
Throughout lockdown and before, I have been working on my Millinery and Business Academy to help other milliners be creative.
Millinery is a perfect way to express your creativity, and hats are pieces of art and sculptures as well as something you can wear.
I have had a lot of lovely messages from people saying that this has helped them with their mental health, depression, and anxiety and it’s been a great place to make friends with other creatives and get support.
Support is so important, especially now. We are all social creatures and are in a period of transitioning, where we are changing our lives. So many people have realised the importance of doing something they love to earn money rather than work in an office or corporate environment.
There has been a realization about how important family and friends are, being close to them, having the time to see them and the time to be more relaxed.
I love being a millinery designer, and I am so glad I found this as a career so early on; I believe it has kept me young and enabled me to keep my positive outlook on life. We spend more of our days working, so it’s more important than ever that we should enjoy what we do.
RELATED: What does it mean to dream about a hat?
If the hat was old and tattered, perhaps something in your waking life has run its course and it’s time to let go. This could be a job, a relationship or a way of life- it might be time to rethink things. If the hat was too small for you in your dream then maybe you had hopes for something that hasn’t come to fruition. If the hat was too big for you head, it’s possible you have entered into something that is beyond your capabilities and need to be more realistic with your choices and promises in future. Wearing a hat in your dream, even if it was the right size, could indicate that you are trying to hide some part of yourself from someone or trying to display a certain side of yourself. Maybe one you believe to be more acceptable to others...
