3 minute read
What is the Common Ground between Eco-Hospitality and Living a Creative Life?
Aside from the planet, our time is arguably our most precious commodity, every moment matters when deciding how to use our finite vacation time or embarking on an act of creativity. We trade in people’s time, doing so with a profound understanding of its value and the potential for transformation it can offer both individuals and the planet.
Eco-resorts embody a commitment to sustainability, while offering spaces designed to restore and rejuvenate body and spirit. Carefully curated environments provide guests with an opportunity to, step away from the chaos of daily life, to reflect and embrace the natural world. By prioritising natural beauty and sustainable practices, such establishments not only offer a refuge for individuals but also contribute to greater ecological awareness.
I argue that living with creative balance encourages individuals to do the same thing, by engaging our artistic impulses we start to see beauty in the everyday, to cultivate joy, purpose and meaning. The positive impacts of creativity on individuals are well documented, participation in any art or craft offers tangible benefits to our health - whether that’s slowing the onset of dementia, offering a means to process pain or improving our mental wellbeing through mindful creative practice.
But perhaps an equally important benefit of living a creative life is to the climate. To engage in creativity requires us to make the single most difficult decision about how we use our time that we face in today’s age.
We must steal back precious moments from the attention economy, that strives single-mindedly to make us care about things we don’t need or want, if we are to spend time in creative practice. When we create for just a few minutes a day, during those moments, we are no longer available for the scrolling seduction to consume mass-produced commodities.
When we invest our energy in a creative community, we start to value the home-made, upcycled and artistically unique. We demonstrate through our craft that, just like the eco-resort industry, sustainable practices can coexist with luxurious and enjoyable experiences.
We live in a society that values economic success above all, a system that wasn’t of our making. When we create space for guests to witness firsthand the positive impact of mindful choices, they understand that time spent in these places contributes to a movement of environmental stewardship.
Likewise, by embracing creativity, individuals are reminded of the beauty and potential that exists within themselves and the world. It breeds innovation, inspiration and expression allowing us all to envision a better future.
Is there common ground between eco-hospitality and living a creative life? I believe there is, and it can be distilled into a single word – hope.
Tricia Duffy is the creator and host of award-winning podcast ‘In Ten Years Time: How to live a creative life’. Find out more at intenyearstime.com. Tricia will be joining us in Greece at Eco Resort Network 2025 as a speaker.
