Column: Engaging with the creative arts is officially good for your heart

Today is World Heart Day and a few things have come together recently to really make me think a bit differently about heart health.

I’m not talking so much about physical exercise and healthy eating here - the importance of those things is already well documented. 

It is more about finding ways to relieve stress, to unburden ourselves of things that play on our mind, to have fulfilling outlets and to embrace happiness when it comes our way. 

I won’t go into details here because it is not my story to tell, but someone whose life circumstances are quite similar to my own recently suffered a heart attack. 

This is someone who looks after herself physically, is quite active and healthy, and did not have prior symptoms. To say this relatively young woman (in her mid-forties) was shocked to the core to be told she had suffered a heart attack doesn’t even come close. 

And the cause? Unprocessed trauma and the constant stress of holding it all together for herself and those around her had damaged her heart.

This stopped me in my tracks, because I recognised a lot of myself in what she said - which is exactly the reason why she shared her story with me. 

I don’t consider myself to be at all ‘stressed out.’

But then, neither did she until a nurse sat down and talked through her typical day, her average week, her life traumas. 
Her story has been playing on my mind over the last month or so, and earlier this week I was preparing an article for the health section of one of our newspapers, the Donegal Post, that really resonated with me. 

If you haven’t already come across the mental health charity Turn2Me, it is worth checking out. The website is turn2me.ie and among other things, it offers six free counselling sessions to everybody in Ireland.

The main remit of the charity is mental health, and in particular, suicide prevention.

But this week, to coincide with World Heart Day, Turn2Me is looking at the physical effect of mental stress and strain, be it coping with a difficult situation on an ongoing basis, living with anxiety or any mental and emotionally demanding situation. 

According to Suzanne Ennis, Clinical Manager at Turn2Me: “Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

“Chronic stress leads to serious health problems because it disrupts nearly every system in your body. Part of what makes chronic stress so insidious is its ability to become a ‘normal’ feeling, it becomes the familiar. This pattern of endurance is what makes chronic stress such a serious health issue.”

Poverty, trauma, general pressure from the demands of life, and more can all cause chronic stress.

Finding a release from our ‘normalised’ stress is therefore really important.

I often find myself drawn to water, be it a beach, lake, waterfall or river. Without any conscious plan, I drive or walk, and once I get there, I sit quietly until I feel connected to its rhythms. It is only then that I realise how much I needed to be there, to find my inner stillness, to let down my barriers and to shed the shifting, uncomfortable skin of daily demands.

Sometimes that is enough. Other times, it gives me a mental space to get to the nub of something that has been on my mind, and to get it into perspective. 

More often than not, I start to write, sometimes about big emotions, sometimes about something that catches my eye, or I give substance to ideas, thoughts, passing observations. Or maybe I find the beginnings of a good short story and I have the headspace to let it take shape and develop. 

And maybe, along with that piece of writing, some of the niggling things that have been rattling around in my head find a way out, or at least, are brought into focus and move closer to being processed. 

For me, writing was always a way of processing traumas big and small and for prodding and exploring my thoughts and feelings. I would have said somewhat flippantly, ‘It keeps me sane but not too sane.’

But it is only in the last few weeks that I have realised the absolute truth of that.

During lockdown we saw a huge return to creative pursuits for people who were stuck at home and couldn’t enjoy their usual activities and interactions with others. 

Be it sketching, painting, writing, music, performance, designing or anything from the broad spectrum of ‘making,’ I firmly believe that giving some of our time to the pursuit of our creative callings is essential to our mental and physical health. 

Yes, it can be frustrating as we endeavour to be better at what we do, as we battle bouts of self-doubt, but it is cathartic, fulfilling and gives us a sense of personal accomplishment that all the money in the world cannot buy. 

Last week I attended an online webinar ‘Donegal Inspires Creative Women of the World’ and it was really interesting to see the link between creativity and entrepreneurship. 

Moya Doherty spoke about the combination of circumstances that led to the birth of Riverdance. Wanting to find work as an actress, she was working as a producer with RTE and was given the role of producing the 1994 Eurovision. 

Her creative spirit kicked in, as did her desire to portray an evolving Ireland. The result was without doubt the most memorable moment in Irish television, and almost three decades later, Riverdance is still the most popular dance show in the world. 

Art of any kind helps us to process, portray or mirror not just our internal world, but also, wider society. It is very much a part of the human condition. 

And remember, as long as we don't put ourselves under too much pressure along the way, it is also good for our hearts!