Here’s research showing that creativity can make people feel good.
Tom Jacobs writes at Pacific Standard, “In a study of college students, ‘people who reported feeling happy and active were more likely to be doing something creative at the time,’ a research team led by Paul Silvia of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro writes in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.
“What’s more, the researchers add, you don’t have to be a master poet or painter to reap the emotional rewards. Even if the results of one’s creative activity are ‘frivolous, amateurish or weird,’ this research suggests ”the creative process that yielded them appears important to positive psychological development.’ ”
After taking a survey about themselves and their creative activities, participants were “called on their cell phones eight times a day for the next seven days. They replied to each call by answering the question ‘Are you doing something creative?’ and describing their emotional state at that moment. …
“ ‘We found that the frequency of doing something creative was quite high — around 22 percent,’ Silvia and his colleagues report. What’s more, when participants were caught in the act of being creative, ‘they reported feeling significantly happier and more active’ than at other reports.” More here.
OK, I admit it sounds like a pretty slim study, but I’ll take it. I especially like the idea that it still counts if the creative activity is “frivolous, amateurish or weird”!
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Frivolous, amateurish and weird? I’m in! I love it when science confirms things I already believe!
Me too. And the blog ArtsJournal.com looks for that kind of research to post. An even more interesting study would be of people who are not arts majors, a study that would define creativity even more broadly.
I agree with KerryCan’s response. ‘Frivolous, amateurish or weird’ is a wonderful, inclusive, permission-granting set of parameters within which one can create all sorts of fun stuff.
And our perception of things we once saw as frivolous, amateurish or weird can change as our eyes adjust to the light.
You are an angel of wisdom. In this day and age of electricity, so few of us remember that our eyes do indeed adjust to varying amounts of light. I have long felt that part of what makes candle light so special (and everything somehow look more beautiful) is related to our irises. And I love walking at night where there are no street lights NOT using a flashlight.
Although it was initially intended as a metaphor, I’m glad it led to your comment. I hope to get back walking in the early morning dark. The ice has kept me away, but I better stop substituting by going ’round and ’round inside the house every morning. The neighbors must think I’ve turned into a hamster.