Creativity allows us to make something of our strong emotions, such as preserving joy or turning pain into something beautiful.
If you are deeply moved by art and beauty, very aware of little details around you, and feel others’ emotions as if they are your own, you might be a highly sensitive person (HSP).
Another common trait among HSPs? Creativity.
Using creative outlets can be a powerful way to celebrate our sensitivity, rather than feeling overwhelmed by intense emotions. Through creative expression, we can preserve joy in artistic forms we’re proud of or transform our pain into something beautiful. This process not only gives us a way to express ourselves but also helps us stabilize our emotional world.
Looking for creative ways to process and soothe your emotions? Here are 10 ideas.
You can thrive as an introvert or a sensitive person in a loud world. Subscribe to our newsletter. Once a week, you’ll get empowering tips and insights in your inbox. Click here to subscribe.
Creative Activities to Process and Soothe Emotions
1. Write a micro-memoir.
Unlike an autobiography, which is usually a straightforward recollection of life events, a memoir borrows strategies from fiction writing to tell a life story in a way that can be more emotionally immersive. Going a step further than simply recollecting major life events, a memoir recognizes the idea that feelings are facts, validating our emotional experiences and the critical ways they shape our life story.
This emphasis on emotion makes memoir writing the perfect expressive outlet for highly sensitive people, as it honors our keen ability for self-reflection and meaning-making. Suffice it to say, HSPs often make great writers.
(Are you a highly sensitive person? Here are 27 “strange” things sensitive people do.)
Given that not everyone has the time or interest to pen their entire life story, a micro-memoir offers a way to reflect on the significance of a single, impactful life event. This type of memoir can range from a few sentences to several pages. Regardless of its length, I have found that the act of writing a memoir is an excellent exercise in self-compassion. When I write about my life, I learn to better appreciate my uniquely sensitive perspective on the human experience.
2. Take a trip — anywhere that takes you out of your daily routine.
Famous travelers like Anthony Bourdain have shown us that while travel exposes us to a range of creative experiences — from art to food to cultural sites — the act of travel itself is also a creative process. During his life, Bourdain reflected extensively on his travels and worked with others to develop creative ways to share those reflections with the world. Going deeper than telling us which museums to visit and where to eat, he used travel to ask pertinent questions about political instability, social injustice, and the human condition.
The creative process of travel can be a useful outlet for channeling highly sensitive tendencies. As HSPs, we are particularly attuned to both our own emotions and the emotional impressions apparent in our surroundings. This level of emotional attunement makes for a deep and fulfilling travel experience.
Because we can’t all globetrot like Anthony Bourdain, it’s important to remember that deep, transformative trips can be taken right where you live. For me, travel implies any trip that takes me out of my daily routine. This can be as simple as finding a new route through a neighborhood or city I know very well. When I take a trip, I do my best Bourdain impression by recording recollections and recommendations for someone else who might enjoy visiting the same place.
3. When you get back, compile your memories into a scrapbook.
Contrary to stereotypes, scrapbooking is not just for retirees. As a young working person with a fast-paced life, scrapbooking a big trip helps me savor the journey before I get swept back into my daily routine. As a sensitive person, scrapbooking allows me to elaborate on the things I felt and observed during my trip.
Items for your scrapbook could range from ticket stubs to napkins from your favorite cafes or bars. Making a scrapbook plan also makes traveling more intentional, as you are always thinking of the best way to preserve an experience and take a piece of it with you.
4. Make a playlist for whatever mood you may be feeling.
Making plans for self-soothing is an important aspect of coping with life as a highly sensitive person. Listening to certain music is the most reliable way for me to do this. More than any other art form, music has helped me embrace my emotions and understand feelings I will never know how to name. Making a playlist turns music-listening into an active process that allows room for your own creative input.
Whether you’ve endured a difficult event or are feeling overwhelmed by life in general, try making a playlist. You can compile a bunch of melancholy songs to validate your grief or a collection of joyful songs to cheer yourself up. You could even create what I think of as a “progressive playlist,” one that moves you through difficult emotions, like sadness and anger, toward more pleasurable ones, like joy or contentment.
Whatever kind of playlist you make, you’ll find that the process of creation can be cathartic, while also preventing you from dwelling too long on emotions you don’t want to feel forever.
5. Create a cartoon of yourself (even if it’s just a stick figure).
I started to draw last year. I was having a hard time, frequently beating myself up over failures or perceived failures, and feeling very alone. I thought journaling might help, but I struggled with it, quite frankly, because I did not love myself enough to feel that personal reflection was worth my time. Confronted with this obstacle, I began projecting my thoughts and experiences onto a comic strip character. I call him Blip.
Blip is like me in most respects. We share a similar style, personality, and set of lived experiences. Addressing my life in the third person, through Blip, helped me learn more about my emotions and develop compassion for myself. When I was finding it too hard to love myself, I learned to love Blip instead.
If you’re having trouble with self-compassion and constructive self-reflection, I encourage you to find your Blip, a character who can help you more kindly and honestly process your emotions.
But what if I can’t draw? Even better.
In essence, I learned that forcing myself to draw helped me accept imperfection in myself and in my relationships with other people.
6. Dance it out.
Dance, like many art forms, is one of those things people are afraid to do because they worry they aren’t good at it. This is a shame because dance can be incredibly therapeutic, especially for introverts — those of us who don’t always know how to verbally process our experiences.
Dance combines the endorphin release of movement with the fulfillment of creative expression. Since highly sensitive people are often overwhelmed by emotion, dance is a perfect way to express the feelings we might struggle to name and talk about. Depending on where you fall on the extrovert-introvert spectrum, you can go out dancing with friends or, my personal favorite, host an exclusive dance party for one in your room.
7. Do yoga, practicing poses that match your mindset.
If dancing isn’t the right speed to handle the feelings you’re working through, yoga can benefit highly sensitive people too — it’s a great way to embody your emotions. I began this year with a 30-day yoga challenge that drastically improved my quality of life. As with many New Year’s resolutions, I haven’t been the best at keeping up the practice, but I do fall back on yoga when I’m struggling to cope and in need of relief.
Because yoga poses range from the challenging handstand scorpion to the more meditative child’s pose, you can build a routine that matches the feeling you’re in or the feeling you are working toward. If you want to boost your heart rate, go for a more progressive routine that warms you up and raises your energy. If you are trying to slow down because of stress, opt for a wind-down routine that moves you toward quiet stillness.
Is the chaos of life overwhelming you as a highly sensitive person?
Sensitive people have certain brain differences that make them more susceptible to stress and anxiety. Thankfully, there is a way to train your brain so you can navigate the challenges of sensitivity, access your gifts, and thrive in life. Psychotherapist and sensitivity expert Julie Bjelland will show you how in her popular online course, HSP Brain Training. As an Introvert, Dear reader, you can take 50% off the registration fee using the code INTROVERTDEAR. Click here to learn more.
8. Make up a story.
Fiction helps us gain distance from real-life stressors while also gaining vital perspective on real-world experiences. As a fiction writer, I find that the characters in my stories help me better understand myself and the challenges I’m working through.
Storytelling comes in many forms, several of which can give you the opportunity to learn a new skill. You could try out claymation, learn to edit videos to make a short film, or develop an understanding of stagecraft by writing a play.
No matter your chosen medium, being highly sensitive will strengthen the story you set out to tell. By being deeply attuned to our own feelings, HSPs are able to create deep, emotionally complex characters with whom audiences easily connect.
9. Record an oral history.
In my work as an oral historian, I record the stories of everyday people who are making exceptional contributions to the arts or politics in their communities. Oral history is the process of documenting the life stories of “everyday people,” those whose names won’t typically pop up in history books. The simple premise of oral history is that each of us has a life story worth documenting and remembering.
I learn so many life skills and lessons from the oral histories I conduct. My narrators (what an oral historian calls “interviewees”) have helped me become a more active citizen and more complete person. Recording oral histories has also helped me better appreciate and embrace my sensitive side.
Being an HSP is one of the main reasons I have found success as someone who interviews people for a living. Because of my sensitivity, I am able to track the subtleties of a story, quickly pick up on social cues and body language, and remain attuned to my narrator’s feelings, figuring out when and how to follow up on an interesting topic.
When recording an oral history, you could interview a member of your extended family, a best friend, or a mentor. You can get to know your narrator by asking them about the people and places that have shaped them or their first encounter with something they became passionate about. In each case, you will be surprised by how much you can learn about both people you don’t know and those you thought you knew well.
10. Prepare a new meal for yourself.
Food and feelings are closely interconnected. Though dieticians warn against the dangers of emotional eating, food does not always need to have a negative emotional connotation. In fact, the experience of preparing food itself can be a positive outlet for expression, like “culinary therapy.”
Preparing a new meal can also allow you to incorporate a few other activities already included on this list. You can build the perfect playlist and dance as you cook, or take some time for daydreaming as you wait for your food to be ready.
Practice Does Not Have to Make Perfect
A parting tip: When you’re getting creative to celebrate your sensitive self, remember that whatever you create doesn’t have to be “good” by fine arts standards. Instead, the “good” you should focus on is all the good you can do for yourself — by finding new ways to process your emotions and celebrate your sensitivity. 
You might like:
This article contains affiliate links. We only recommend products we truly believe in.
