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Feeling stuck in your everyday routine? We talk to life design coach Caoimhe de Fréin on simple ways you can incorporate creativity into your life, and reap the mood-boosting benefits.
When we think of creativity, it’s easy to dismiss it as an inherent talent, one reserved for ‘creators’ like artists, writers, fashion designers – a skill we either have or don’t. But that couldn’t be more wrong, says life design coach Caoimhe de Fréin.
In conversation, she urges me to think of my childhood – when I was making cards from craft paper, using blue tack to adorn walls with band posters, crafting friendship bracelets from mismatched beads… creativity doesn’t require skill, she says, but is an important tool that we can use in our everyday lives, especially as adults.
“I think the roadblock for many is that you can’t necessarily measure the output of creativity,” Caoimhe explains. “Society has conditioned us to think like this – how can you prove that you were successful after 30 minutes of being creative if you haven’t earned more money? But creativity is being, rather than doing, and that distinction is so important.”
Finding your joy
As someone who completed a degree in engineering and a PhD in physics, Caoimhe certainly considered herself a “logical, analytical” person before she delved into the world of creativity and realised that it was the missing piece she had been searching for.
“I was in tech for over 12 years, leading data science with data strategy teams. Then, along the way, I had an amazing manager who told me about vision boards, and I was very sceptical at first. But I went home and made my first vision board, and I just couldn’t get over how it worked. And I think fundamentally it was carving out space to think about being rather than doing, and just getting my ideas onto a piece of paper to think about how I wanted the next year to look.
“From there, things started to just happen, because I had the focus and the mindset to make them happen. The key to a vision board is having it hung somewhere that you’ll see multiple times a day, which will create that focus for you.”
Caoimhe had always been interested in crafting as a child, from dressmaking to crocheting to paper crafts, so she put what she thought was an out-of-reach goal (and one completely different from her career) on her vision board: starting a crafting business. But seeing that every morning on her wall propelled her to take action – going on to launch her own successful business, DEFRÉIN, making jewellery and now, leading Life Design workshops.
“I’m very intentional with DEFRÉIN – it has to bring me joy, otherwise I’m happy to go somewhere that will pay me more,” she laughs. “For many, it’s easier to work in corporate, but it doesn’t bring them joy. So now, my cup is overflowing – cheesy, but true.”
Boosting your mental health
It’s important we don’t confuse creativity with being artistic, Caoimhe says. It’s about creating something new. “The definition of creative is ‘to create a new idea, even a new way of thinking’. And I think that mindset shift is important. Also, embrace the fear of failure. In life, we try to control everything. We try to fit everything into the next 10 minutes, whereas when you’re creative, you don’t know how your creation is going to look. Mistakes can turn into this amazing opportunity that you didn’t realise was there.”
Creativity is more than a feel-good practice, it actually has mental health benefits that Caoimhe has seen with her clients and experienced firsthand. “For me, it’s definitely stress reducing. Creativity is the opposite of anxiety. Your logic is on the left side of your brain, while the right side is the space for creativity and emotions. When we dial up that right side, we create possibilities – or we even just switch off the spiral of everything that can possibly go wrong and give our brains a break.
“Community is another huge benefit. You can’t disconnect community from creativity. There are so many ways to be creative, but there’s always a community for the way that you’re being creative. A problem shared is a problem halved, right? But I think just having a laugh makes all the difference. Life is hard, and when you’re with other people, there’s just more space.
“Finally, resilience, because again, you’re giving your brain a break from stress, and then when you go back, you just feel a bit fresher and you have a new perspective. When I was working on my thesis for my PhD, I was in a choir, and singing with that group was my weekly therapy. I would go in, and be so absorbed in creating music with a community of people that I came away feeling like the weight of the world was gone.”
Igniting your creative spark
So, how can we start to introduce creativity into our daily lives, especially as someone who doesn’t necessarily deem themselves a ‘creative person’?
“There is a creative outlet for everybody. It is about practice, and I think it’s about giving yourself space to explore. Start by injecting moments of creativity into your every day like dopamine dressing to feel great about yourself, journaling to process thoughts or set intentions, changing the ingredients in whatever you’re cooking, or starting a new conversation with somebody who’s different from you and learn a new perspective.”
For Caoimhe and her husband, they are on opposite ends of the creative spectrum – he’s more logical and methodical so his outlets are building, woodworking and cooking strict recipes, while Caoimhe who describes herself as “less conventional” loves throwing together random ingredients from the fridge or trying her hand at pottery (which she says she never quite mastered but really enjoyed!).
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If you want to reignite your creativity, Caoimhe says to start with those small steps and watch your passion naturally grow from there. “When you take these little steps, you then become more and more addicted to them, and see more ways to tap into your creative side. And, if you’re seeking community, signing up for a local class is a great way to get started too. Join a craft class, book club, sewing class, etc, and try it out. It’s such a gorgeous way to spend time together, and you may just surprise yourself.”
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