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You ever been so overwhelmed that you opened your mouth to talk but nothing came out? Not silence, emptiness.
Like your brain’s Wi-Fi disconnected.
Like everything in you wanted to scream but all you could do was scroll, scroll, scroll.
That’s where I was when I realized, I don’t need to say something to let it out. I just need to do something.
📋 Table of Contents
The Key Takeaway.
Sometimes your healing won’t look like journaling or crying or talking to someone. Sometimes it looks like making music no one hears, doodling a face that looks nothing like yours, or organizing your closet like it’s a war plan.
“Only Talented People Deserve to Create.”
(Yeah…no.)
So many of us grew up thinking that if you’re not good at something, you shouldn’t bother doing it.
- As if joy needs a certificate.
- As if coping needs an audience.
Truth is, some of the most emotionally intelligent people I know are not artists, they’re feelers. Quietly surviving chaos through creation. Making something out of the mess. Turning pain into color, shape, rhythm, or sound.
Not because they want praise.
But because it’s either this…
Or explode.
Using Creativity and Hobbies as Emotional Outlets.
I was in my room, three missed calls deep into a mental breakdown I didn’t have the energy to explain.
- Crying didn’t help.
- Praying felt hollow.
- Talking to someone? Not even an option. I didn’t have the words.
- So I picked up a pen and just started scribbling lines.
- Back and forth. Sharp and aggressive. I wasn’t drawing anything. I was bleeding without blood.
Thirty minutes in, the panic calmed. My hands stopped shaking.
I had drawn… nothing. I mean, it looked like an ugly doodle.
But it felt like everything.
How to Actually Use Creativity as an Emotional Outlet.
Don’t Think, Just Dump.
When your emotions are too loud, logic won’t save you. Stop trying to make sense. Start by DUMPING. Dump your feelings into something. Anything. It could be:
- Drawing literal nonsense shapes with a marker on old receipts.
- Typing a messy paragraph in your Notes app that starts with “I feel like sh*t because…”
- Slapping colors on a page like you’re a toddler with attitude.
- Tearing paper.
- Scribbling.
- Beating a pillow while playing drums on Spotify.
- Whatever.
No structure. No judgment. No rules. Just dump the chaos.This is not art school. This is emotional bleeding in disguise.
Let the Emotion Choose the Outlet. Not You.
“What’s the thing I can do right now without needing to be perfect?”
That’s your outlet. Some ideas based on moods:
- Angry? You need something physical. Try dancing with too much energy. Try painting with your hands. Try writing an angry monologue, like you’re yelling at life itself.
- Sad? Try slow stuff. Piano keys. Watercolors. Writing letters you’ll never send. Singing even if your voice shakes.
- Anxious? You need order. Try coloring inside the lines. Cooking with recipes. Knitting. Rearranging your desk.
- Empty? Try messy things. Collaging random pictures. Freewriting. Creating a playlist of how your heart feels.
Let your emotions decide the tool.
Be Ugly On Purpose.
No really, don’t try to make something beautiful. This is not the time to be aesthetic. Your feelings are not aesthetic. Make something ugly, weird, clumsy, chaotic, too much, too loud, too raw.
When you allow the thing to be ugly, you allow yourself to be honest.
- This is NOT the time for Pinterest-perfect crafts or clean minimal poetry.
- This is about expression. About pushing stuff out of you before it eats you alive.
Examples:
- Write a poem that makes no sense. Let the emotion shape the lines.
- Draw something with your non-dominant hand.
- Create a playlist and name it “Songs I’d play at my breakdown-themed birthday party.”
Don’t Look Back Yet.
When you’re done, do NOT immediately judge or evaluate what you made. It isn’t for likes or for framing. Let the creation just exist. Let it breathe.
Think of it like screaming into a pillow. You wouldn’t analyze the acoustics of the scream, right? Same thing here.
If you wanna reflect later? Sure. But right now, it’s not about meaning. It’s about release.
Make It a Ritual, Not a Random Moment.
This one is DEEP.
Don’t wait until you’re falling apart to create. Start building a soft routine around creativity, even when you’re “fine.”
Because creativity as an outlet works best when it becomes your language.
You don’t learn to swim when you’re already drowning. Same way, you don’t want creativity to be a stranger when your emotions are screaming.
Set a “creative check-in” once a week:
- 30 mins of making something you don’t have to explain.
- 1 hour to do art like nobody’s watching.
- Sunday playlist building.
- Drawing what your week felt like instead of writing it.
Turn it into your second language.
Give It a Name.
Weird tip, but name what you made. Even if it’s trash. ESPECIALLY if it’s trash. Call it:
- “I Hate Everyone and Everything Today”
- “This One’s Just a Panic Attack in Blue”
- “The Soundtrack to Me Screaming in the Shower”
Naming it makes the emotion feel acknowledged. And when you name your pain, it loses some of its grip on you.
This Isn’t Just a Hobby, It’s Your Lifeline.
- Stop waiting for someone to listen.
- Stop pretending like you’re okay just because you didn’t cry today.
Start turning your feelings into forms. Shapes. Sounds. Colors. Patterns. Noise. Mess. Motion.
Creativity is not the opposite of pain. It’s the echo of it. And if you let it, it’ll speak for you when your voice shakes too hard to form words.
Your healing is allowed to look like building dollhouses. Or writing poems with no punctuation. Or dancing in the kitchen to music no one else likes. Create something today. Not to be seen. Not to be praised. Just to breathe.
