Creativity and Leisure During COVID-19: Examining the Relationship Between Leisure Activities, Motivations, and Psychological Well-Being

Social distancing policies have been implemented around the world to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). These measures have included temporary restrictions on mass gatherings and the closure of public facilities, limiting the pursuit of leisure activities such as travel while allowing more time for at-home pursuits, including creative activities such as gardening and painting. Previous research has demonstrated the benefits of physical activity for psychological well-being during COVID-19, but less attention has been given to the potential benefits of creative pursuits, such as arts and music. The present study investigated changes in the pursuit of creative, non-creative, and physical leisure activities and the relationship between engaging in leisure, the motivations for and barriers to pursuing these activities, and psychological well-being during COVID-19. A total of 3,827 participants from 74 countries completed an online leisure activities questionnaire and the World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index. Logistic regression indicated that gender, age, social distancing adherence, and employment status significantly predicted leisure engagement during COVID-19. Compared to sports and outdoor pursuits, participation in creative activities was generally more likely to increase during this period, while participation in non-creative activities was less likely to increase. Multiple linear regression indicated that maintaining or increasing time on leisure activities significantly predicted well-being during COVID-19, with increased time spent on home crafts and artisanship, fine arts, musical and performing arts engagement, sports and outdoor pursuits, niche and IT interests, and language activities each predicting higher well-being outcomes. Motivations such as seeking creative expression and mental stimulation, keeping fit, and maintaining social connections also predicted higher well-being. These findings suggest that participation in both physical and creative leisure activities may offer protective benefits for well-being during COVID-19, and that strategies to promote engagement in creative activities should also be considered in future guidance for mental health during periods of lockdown or isolation.

Reconnection

This chapter concludes with an analysis of Martin Heidegger, Jan Patocka, and Václav Havel's exhortations on actively envisioning and embracing a world without advanced technology. Indulging in the many pleasures of the great outdoors, the chapter also examines how nature and “the natural” give a different sort of bodily knowledge of who people are. It talks about “Indian camps” that mimic the heavily romanticized and fictionalized lifeways of Native American tribes to the industriousness of a relaxing visit to the familial “chata” or country cottage. It also talks about Czechs in their outdoor pursuits and questions whether the realities of living close to nature can indeed transport people to a deeper understanding of what it is be alive. The chapter explores the possibilities and limits of the acts of beauty and violence, dissolution and transcendence that make up everyday living.

Embodying Experiences with Nature in Everyday Life Recovery for Persons with Eating Disorders

Eating disorders can be understood as attempts to manage a problematic relationship with one’s own body. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore and discuss perspectives of embodying “experiences with nature” related to recovery in everyday life for persons experiencing eating disorders. The study was carried out in the context of a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Eight participants with an interest in nature and friluftsliv (outdoor pursuits), and with experiences with bulimia nervosa and/or binge-eating disorders, were interviewed twice. Interviews took place in nature, in combination with a “going together” method. The results reveal how the participants highlighted experiences with nature as accentuating feelings of calmness and an engagement of the senses. Participants described nature as a non-judgmental environment that also provided room for self-care. This article explores the implications of everyday life perspectives on nature in recovery, as well as of an integrated focus on body and mind in experiences with eating disorders. The article concludes with an emphasis on how participant’s embodying experiences with nature enabled a (re)connection with one’s own body.