5. Creative Thinking

There are a wide variety of strategies to overcoming stress. Each and every person experiences and handles stress in their own way and learn to develop personal coping strategies. Stress is a killer but the impossible becomes possible. Sometimes, when stress is at its peak, students tend to stay within their comfort zone and only think inside of the box. From personal experience, thinking outside of the box is sometimes a better strategy than most. Common stress relievers, such as music, exercise and talking, are good ways of reducing levels of stress and work for majority of individuals, but, sometimes you just need something different. From a student’s perspective, when I do not have the extra time to exercise or thoroughly talk to one of my peers or family members and I’m not in the mood to listening to music, I like to relieve my stress by doing the traditional Japanese paper folding art called origami. Origami is a fun and unique activity to do and since it can be time consuming at times it distracts the mind which essentially calms and reduces your levels of stress. I’ve been doing origami for at least 5 years and it has become one of my many, top rated coping strategies to overcoming stress. Origami has hundreds, probably thousands of different items that can made from the colourful papers that are used. Origami also has several different model-making methods which adds creativity and uniqueness to the activity (paper folding, cutting, or using multiple sheets). Examples of some of my favourite origami to make are: the crane, heart, fox, kusudama flower, and bookmarks.

Origami has become one of my passions, and as a student I find that it helps me to separate school from my personal life. Origami allows me to go into my own world and enjoy the talent that I have. It lets me relieve myself and helps to calm my mind as I make each and every perfect fold. At times, yes, origami can be stressful as the instructions can be quite complex and difficult, but I’ve learned patience and I manage to stay calm and just keep trying. Origami is just one of the many creative ways that students can utilize to relieve their levels of stress. Students can also paint, draw, sing, read or do whatever their passion is or what suits them best for helping themselves with stressful situations. Students need to realize the importance of properly taking care of yourself and for developing your own coping strategies for reducing/relieving stress. Try something new and think outside of the box, let your mind express itself and see and feel the wonders that can happen.

Want to know how to make a simple origami? Check out the video links below on "how to make an origami crane" and "how to make an origami bookmark". Release your inner creativity!

Origami: Crane [Tutorial] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux1ECrNDZl4
DIY Easy Origami Corner Bookmark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh0e0WrG3Ns