Having been through a fair few of her own struggles, Chrissy Levett, founder and Creative Director of Creative Conscience, knows a thing or two about wellbeing in creativity. A charity and global platform set up to reward, train, and support creative thinkers to use their talents for social and environmental benefit, she explains how finding your positive purpose can unlock your productivity…
What is Creative Conscience and how did it begin?
I was working as a creative at a product design agency, and we were just creating crap that people didn't need, and I think I had what we might call a ‘Road to Damascus’ moment. I was miserable, felt frustrated and depressed… It was driving me insane. But out of despair can come great learnings. So I went on some short courses, including a self-expression and leadership programme, and out of that came this idea of building a community project. I've worked a bit in creative education as a visiting lecturer, and in the industry, of course, and then also spent some of my youth working for charities in the field - so it was those three things that came together to birth Creative Conscience.
Speaking to your own struggles with wellbeing, how do you advise that creatives look after themselves?
We've seen data and research that shows that if you couple creativity and positive purpose together, that can result in better mental health and a sense of wellbeing. I would say that if you can tap into your creativity, and then couple that with something that is meaningful for the world and society, that’s how you can achieve better self-esteem. This is definitely what’s getting me up every morning, knowing that we are doing something in the realm of creative imagination, and actually succeeding in changing elements of our society. There's nothing more wonderful in the world than that feeling, for me. So, I guess I would urge people to get involved with things that they believe in, that are going to build positive change.
One of your core missions is to help organisations become more purpose-driven. How might individuals and organisations hone in on that purpose?
I mean, that this is a bit of a funny word, isn't it? Because a bank’s purpose is to support capitalism and kind of screw people in order to get the best for their shareholders. I think it's very important that we focus on this idea of positive purpose, as well as what aligns with you as an individual. It's really digging down into what you're passionate about. What do you care about? What's meaningful to you as an individual or as an organisation? If we work on things that we're passionate about, we're much more likely to succeed.
We do a workshop around this - we get people to take their skill set and the things that they love to do, and smash that together with complaints that they have. And then, from that, a meaningful project can be formed. We’ve got hundreds of examples of that working.
Get involved with something that you're interested in. Get up, find your tribe, become a volunteer, join a movement. I think some kind of magic can happen from that
Are some people more naturally creative than others? Is it a nature or nurture thing?
I think every human being on the planet is creative. It's just part of being alive. If you've ever imagined anything, that’s creativity - and it’s intrinsically part of human beings. I do think it's generally beaten out of us from a young age that we can't write, dance, draw, sing, or whatever. Then we make that our story and, of course, our education system backs these ridiculous ideas up.
How can people turn that creativity into a job, if they want to?
Get involved with something that already exists that you're interested in. Get up, find your tribe, become a volunteer, join a movement. I think some kind of magic can happen from that. You will meet people, you will make those networks, and things will shift. Just get involved. Get off the sofa, get off Instagram, and get into the world. And, most importantly, be curious.
Are there any particular success stories from Creative Conscience that stand out?
We have this global award scheme and, through that, we've had the privilege of connecting with thousands of young creative thinkers from all over the world, and encouraging them to use that talent for social-environmental impact. Some of those projects have touched the lives of millions of people in a positive way, which is super fun and exciting. Just being able to have a conversation, to empower people to understand that we're all creative, and that we can all use our talents for a different route or a different system, is really rewarding.
You can catch Creative Conscience’s Creative Changemakers event at Metronome on Friday 16 June and Nottingham College on Saturday 17 June
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