Do you sometimes feel a little less happy or more anxious during the winter? In that case you are not alone and there is nothing strange about it. It is actually a quite common phenomenon called seasonal depression. Unfortunately it is also more common for us people living up north to be affected by this since we do not get a lot of sunny hours during this time of the year.

You can go and get therapy for this, but if you do not have the time, energy, money or just want to avoid it in the first place there is something much easier you can do. BE CREATIVE!

According to the article “Creativity as a Wellness Practice” in Psychology Today written by Cathy Malchiodi, various studies have shown that expressing your creativity can lead to “a decrease in depressive symptoms, an increase in positive emotions, reduction in stress responses, and, in some cases, even improvements in immune system functioning”. It might be hard to say if this is going to work for everyone, although it sounds good, does it not? So why not at least try?

So here below are three easy, cheap and fun ways you can express your creativity and hopefully at the same time brighten up this upcoming winter.

Paint!

This might be the one thing we think of first when talking about creativity. Important to remember— it does not have to be difficult. Instead it gives you a lot of room to be creative. And why not be creative with what you paint with as well? One thing that works perfectly is painting with coffee or wine for example. You can just pour some out on a paper and then use a pen to turn that pattern into whatever. This is also a good tip if you don’t have a lot of material at home. The only thing you need is a paper, a pen and some kind of tinted liquid. Fun, easy and cheap! Important to remember is that it does not have to look good or serve a purpose, let yourself go wild.

Come up with new recipes!

Maybe painting is not for you, maybe you would like to actually “have use” for what you are making. Then this might be something for you. Be creative and make up your own recipes with things you have at home. If you feel like it is hard to come up with things, here are a few examples where you easily can apply your own touch:

● Your own granola
● Your own overnight oats
● Your own seasoning mix
● Your own ice cream
● Your own sauce, ex salsa

Of course you can also cook entire meals à la you.

Write!

Writing is a good way to express your creativity. Maybe not the pre-decided assignments given in school, but writing what you would like to. There are no limitations here. It could be:

● a poem
● a melody
● a song
● music
● a rhyme
● mind maps
● filling in a journal or diary
● coming up with your own quotes
● or maybe writing an article like this.

In lack of inspiration you might want to go outside or take a walk.

Good luck!