Need Creative Inspiration? Try Falling in Love.

how falling in love impacts creative people
Jason Hoffman/Thrillist
Jason Hoffman/Thrillist

Being in love leaves its mark on everything.

Your emotions are heightened. Thoughts become happier and gloomy dispositions give way to a world filled with sunshine and rainbows. And as it turns out, what's good for your heart is also good for your art. Whether you're in a mutually loving relationship, suffering the pain of unrequited love, or trying to recover from a broken heart, you can bet the work coming out of you will be imbibed with the ferocity of those feelings.

Here's how falling in love expands your creativity -- whether you fancy yourself an artist or not.

Your mind becomes clearer

According to a 1999 study on PubMed, falling in love causes your body's levels of serotonin to drop. And when you have less of a hormone that affects mood, behavior, and thought processes, you're left with a calmer, more focused, and lucid mind.

Similarly low levels of serotonin are found in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder; which helps to explain our hyper-focused thoughts and preoccupation with our partners during the honeymoon phase.

Harnessing that attentiveness and directing it outward allows you to see projects, art, and the world in general in a more thoughtful, profound way. And whether you're an analyst, artist, educator, or student, being in love helps clear mental blocks that normally hinder your ability to complete a project.

You gain a big-picture view of the world

A study from the University of Amsterdam found that love makes us think about our lives in a more global, big-picture way. This is different from the way we typically think about sex, which is based more on short-term gratification than actual, long-term attachment to a person.

This helps you think outside of the box in a more creative, unusual way and makes it easier to envision a finished product.

You get inspired in new ways

Love enhances all your senses. Smell, touch ,and sight are heightened and the world takes on a new, beautiful glow. Love actually has the power to alter the very way our minds work to process information.

Historically, artists used specific people as muses: modes of artistic and poetic inspiration. Muses were often considered divine, but could also be humans and lovers.

When you're in love, the subject of your affection functions as a muse. Where once you had no source of creativity from which to draw, you're now flooded with an instinctual need to create; memorizing every angle of your lover's face and writing him or her into your every story and poem.

You don't get bogged down by negative thinking

When we're in love, we tend to idealize our partners and our sense of reality, according to a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. And as an artist, positive thinking is critical to the creative process. So many of us are weighed down by negative thoughts, leaving us stunted and plagued by mental roadblocks.

Sure, some of us create our best work under pressure and depression. But this is NOT the case for most people. For many, love is the antidote to that darkness and lets us create without the fear of any pitfalls.

No matter where you are, who you are, or what kind of artist or creative you happen to be, falling in love will improve your ability to make art, while also improving the art itself. None of us is safe from love's infectious call. The incredible impact this state of mind has had on mankind can be seen in the very fabric of every artistic creation ever made. Just go look at any museum.

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Gigi Engle is Thrillist's Sex and Dating staff writer and is much more creative since she stopped trolling for dick and settled down. Follow her lovable crazy on Twitter, iTunesFacebook, and Instagram @GigiEngle.