Staying Creative through Seasonal Shifts & Inspiring Mental Change

Seasonal depression and that lack of motivation hits us all like a truck every year. The seasons are so exciting to look forward to, from holidays and wardrobe changes, to limited-time drink flavors. But what really happens when all of the exciting moments come to a halt? 

Seasonal Challenges

Our daily responsibilities can often allow us to push off creative ideas and favor sleep or relaxation. Which is equally important… but so is inspiring, enriching and stimulating our minds! Making a mindful effort to give yourself a creative hour or two in your day can always help promote mental growth in your seasonal-self. 

It can be difficult to remain motivated, active and creative in the winter time, especially when stepping outside into the most unpleasant temperatures. It can be even more difficult to stay motivated while the seasons change while we are all experiencing things from allergies to unpredictable weather. It is easy to allow the weather and lack of vitamin D to make us feel tired and uninspired. There are a few mindful activities to consider that might re-enlighten that creative or productive spark. 

Cooking New Recipes 

Sharpening your skills in the kitchen and widening your variety of dishes is a great way to stay creative through seasonal shifts. Whether you are locked indoors from cold fronts or rain storms, or trying to transition into more seasonal tastes, new recipes are sure to fuel that missing piece. Watch a cooking show you haven't seen before. Go to a new grocery store and try new ingredients. Expand your food horizons during the seasonal changes. 

Reading 

No matter your reading frequency, indulging in some fresh stories are perfect at breaking up seasonal sadness. Allowing our minds to dive into non-fiction pages for some learning or cultivation can inspire as we transition through the seasons. Tapping into a novel’s fantasy land will help your mind decompress from the craziness of the real world and promote some positive creative visualizations for our minds.

Reading fiction is perfect for a mindful getaway during the creative ruts of seasonal changes. Choose a few books and set a monthly goal. Some new reading can inspire new ways of thinking through the seasons. Break up your inside time by researching book fairs/festivals to attend throughout the seasons, which can also inspire more interests in reading and in-person connections. 

Check out my Book Nook picks of the month for a new book recommendation each month!

Playing a New Video Game

As a frequent video game repeater, I have learned that no matter how fun or familiar the game might be, it is a good idea to further your creative activities by trying something new! Games that are familiar do not necessarily give us the opportunity to learn new skills or think in different ways, which may be the reason we occasionally feel that the games we frequently play become old or boring as the years go on.

Seasonal changes are the perfect time to shift your mind into a new entertaining game. Video games as a source of newfound creative interest can include any version from our phones and tablets, to desktop and consoles. Even if you are not someone that plays video games to begin with, learning a new creative outlet would be a great way to focus on something fresh. There are plenty of games to consider that may cover topics like:

• Action, first person shooter (FPS) and third-person shooter (TPS) games that focus on using weapons, learning maps and defeating enemies which inspire tactical ideas. 

• Building games that inspire individual creativity and exploration. 

• Lifestyle or Fashion (“Role-playing”) games are great for inspiring collaboration, creative designing and fostering a more cozy and relaxing form of entertainment, which can always transfer over into real-world ideas. 

Crafting

As general as it sounds, crafting is a very reliable way to stay creative and expand your mixed-media use, no matter your skill level. Start as simple as watching a few simple tutorials on watercolor paintings or making some hand-made birthday cards.

Work your way up to even creating seasonal crafts that favor the holiday or calendar. Crafting is a great option to step into more hands-on activities that can inspire a lot of new skills and fulfill that diminishing productive spark through seasonal shifts. Crafting is so versatile that it can be shared or remain an individual activity. Crafting can be either functional or just for fun!

Remaining Mindful

Just having the spirit to jump into a new creative activity this season can really help keep that mental growth positive and flourishing. There are so many more activities to try and so many more that can decrease our seasonal sadness, but considering some of these ideas in a more mindful way can allow us to feel more nurtured through seasonal shifts. 

Think about some activities that would be interesting to you and consider the ways they might help you practice something unfamiliar or stimulate calmness in your free time.