> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: Girija Kaimal > Reference:: https://theconversation.com/making-art-is-a-uniquely-human-act-and-one-that-provides-a-wellspring-of-health-benefits-219091 > Date:: 2024 > Tags:: #warp > WeftLinks:: > - [[Health value of craft]] > - [[Psychological value of craft]] > > Claim:: > - [[Craft skills are key to the making of medical prosthetics]] > - [[Claim - Craft improves well-being]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > Art provides a sense of agency through expression and exercises our imagination so we can see possibilities. ### Highlights Making art is essential for mental and physical well-being, helping reduce stress and improve mood. Creativity is a natural human trait that activates reward pathways in the brain, promoting feelings of hope and accomplishment. Engaging in creative activities regularly can enhance confidence and overall well-being. > as I explain in my book “[The Expressive Instinct](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-expressive-instinct-9780197646229?q=the%20expressive%20instinct&lang=en&cc=ca),” art is intrinsic to human evolution and history. Just as sports or workouts exercise the body, creating art exercises the imagination and is essential to mental as well as physical well-being. > No one truly knows the future; they must live each day not sure of what will happen tomorrow. Art can help us all practice this imaginative muscle in a useful way. > Seemingly ordinary everyday activities can provide opportunities to tap into one’s natural creativity and imagination: whipping up a meal from leftovers, figuring out an alternate route to work, dancing a little jig in response to hearing a song, or planting and tending a garden. > Using our hands and bodies to express ourselves activates dopamine pathways and helps us feel good. > Creative self-expression is especially relevant in coping with trauma because it provides an outlet through which a person [can regain a sense of agency](https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735420912835) and control.