Creativity can be an elusive beast. An idea can occur to you in the middle of the night and you wake up full of inspiration to write the first chapter of a book, cook something wonderful, or simply go about your daily life with added verve and vigour.
But at other times, you find yourself in front of a blank screen or canvas, wondering what it was that made you start this project in the first place, or struggling to make it to your exercise class. Or perhaps at the kitchen stove, questioning why you’re making Bolognese for the tenth week in a row.
We all know that taking a break or holiday is good for us. But simply sitting on a sun-lounger or being a tourist for a week isn’t necessarily going to fire up under-used neurons or boost creativity.
An activity holiday, however, just might. It’s not just the change of scene that inspires, but it’s proven that taking up an activity – painting, learning a language, working on new recipes, or starting a daily exercise such as Pilates, for example – can enhance all areas of your creativity, not just in the activity you’re taking part in. And on a Flavours holiday, you’ll be learning while in a beautiful part of Italy, with great food, warmth, and stunning scenery – all aids to inspiration.
Vanessa King, positive psychology expert, has written about the benefits of learning new things in Psychologies Magazine, and says, ‘It’s actually a core need for psychological well-being. Learning can help us build confidence and a sense of self-efficacy. It can also be a way of connecting with others… As human beings, we have a natural desire to learn and progress. Psychologists call it mastery.’
King continues, ‘Learning also fuels our creativity. Ideas can come from making connections between seemingly unrelated things. Learning something new in one area of our lives can trigger ideas in another. So, curiosity and creative thinking go hand-in-hand.’
Another added benefit of an activity holiday is that you’ll meet new people. And you never know where these new friends may take you in life. Albert Einstein once said, ‘Creativity is contagious, pass it on.’ That creative genius may have been joking, but it’s true that being in a group of like-minded enthusiastic people boosts creativity. Sharing ideas and taking inspiration from a tutor or the way fellow learners do things is bound to have a positive impact on your life.
On a Flavours activity holiday, you’ll not only be in a beautiful place, whichever part of Italy you choose to go to, but you’ll be learning from great tutors, too. All our tutors are passionate, dedicated and highly skilled.
In this modern world, we all suffer from busy syndrome. Our lives are full, be it working, communicating on social media, or simply managing the day to day. We all deserve a break from that every day, and what better way than to stimulate the brain and learn a new skill, or improve an existing one. A Flavours Holiday could be the answer. What are you waiting for? After all, as Call of the Wild author Jack London once said, ‘You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.’
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