Staying creative in the current times

This post was written during the pandemic and contains information specific to it.

This last year there has been plenty of time to be creative – and when finding the opportunity and the motivation, I managed to try out some new ways to be creative in lockdown. I thought I would write this post telling you not only the things I did but also how I found the motivation to do them.

Firstly, remember what you used to do before lockdown. A while ago I know, but if you stopped doing something back then that was your passion find a way to reconnect with it now. If it is something that is impossible right now find elements of it – if it was a sport, try and watch so much as possible and keep fit. Being creative doesn’t just mean painting and artistic things but creative ways of thinking. Finding ways of still being able to try and do things you love whilst having limited space and resources.

I have a few examples of things that I can show you how I have adapted and changed my passions so that I could be able to do some of them in lockdown. Now, full disclosure, I am a very creative person so mine will be surrounding things like this. But remember you just need to want to do it and push through any challenges as we start to come out of lockdown!

Photography

I am a massive fan of photography and used to find any excuse to take photos of my friends and the places around me. So instead, my flatmate and I did lockdown photoshoots – quite a few with the TikTok trend of a bath filled with flowers and milk, see the photo above! If there is something that you and your family, flatmate or support bubble can do together, do it! It gives you a break from daily life and makes sure that you are doing something different.

Exercise

Before lockdown hit, and during summer, I started running. Obviously, this is something that I could still do but I seem to be unable to run outside and over the third lockdown I really missed the gym. I found that there were so many YouTube workouts. But the one that was most fun to do with my flatmate were the dance workouts. Another thing to do is just to get out there – adventure and hike, you never know what amazing places you might find!

Microphone

An odd thing to put in here I know. But I ordered a microphone to record some music for my Grandad’s Christmas present. What you could use it for is to start a podcast, or record something that you’ve always wanted to do. The podcast or YouTube videos could be about anything. If you’ve always liked gaming make a Twitch account or start YouTube channel. You could order anything online to help you with being able to do something you’re passionate about.

These are just a couple of ideas – you could apply them to anything though. Remember that the times are getting easier and there are end dates for things now. I understand it’s been really tough but at Student Life we believe you can get through this semester and achieve something great by June, and after that as well.