  As both our external world and inner worlds become more complex, we are faced
with more novel challenges, hardships, and duress. Creative thinking is needed
to provide fresh perspectives and solve new problems.Because creativity can be
conducive to accessing and reliving traumatic memories, emotional scars may be
exacerbated by creative practices before these are transformed and released.
Therefore, in preparing our youth to thrive in an increasingly unpredictable
world, it could be helpful to cultivate in them an understanding of the
creative process and its relationship to hardship, as well as tools and
techniques for fostering not just creativity but self-awareness and
mindfulness. This chapter is a review of theories of creativity through the
lens of their capacity to account for the relationship between creativity and
hardship, as well as the therapeutic effects of creativity. We also review
theories and research on aspects of mindfulness attending to potential
therapeutic effects of creativity. Drawing upon the creativity and mindfulness
literatures, we sketch out what an introductory 'creativity and mindfulness'
module might look like as part of an educational curriculum designed to address
the unique challenges of the 21st Century.
