Perhaps creativity’s greatest mercy is this: By completely absorbing our attention for a short and magical spell, it can relieve us temporarily from the dreadful burden of being who we are. Best of all, at the end of your creative adventure, you have a souvenir—something that you made, something to remind you forever of your brief but

Take an art or drama class; make up short stories or write in a daily journal; take up a craft or hobby; rearrange, redecorate, or redesign your living quarters; help someone solve a problem; work in the garden; or do volunteer work. All of these are positive examples of creativity.

What if, instead of scrolling on your phone with your morning coffee, you spent twenty minutes drawing in a doodle diary, or creating your own mandala? You could black out words in the newspaper and create a found poem, or pick up your kid’s (or your!) LEGO bricks for free-form design, or Play-Doh to create something new. Take old clothes and make