How To Get Creative
Feeling Burnt Out? Here Are 10 Ways to Reignite Your Creativity.
Do you need a creativity boost? Start by getting, what I like to call, courageously creative!
Creativity isn’t just for artists. We use our creativity everyday. We are creative beings!
It’s how we’ve been able to survive as a human race — from building a fire with sticks, to protecting ourselves from the rain, to the eradication of polio.
Fun facts: The Sibley tent was invented by the American military officer Henry Hopkins Sibley and patented in 1856. Dr. Jonas Salk worked incessantly for over two years before his polio vaccine came into use in 1955.
Take this self-assessment to determine your creative confidence, and then use some (or all!) of the following tips to enhance your daily creative play.
Every morning for at least three months, write in a stream of consciousness (it’s just what comes first to mind and it doesn’t have to be “creative”) -- at least 3 pages. Try to do this first thing when you wake up. Author of The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron, calls this “Morning Pages”.
Make a weekly date for just you and only you. This can be reflection time while walking, going to an art gallery, sketching, or hiking through the trees. Good ideas need fresh air and inspiration. Albert Einstein figured out the Theory of Relativity while convalescing in a canoe.
Carry a small sketchbook and a pencil with you wherever you go. Sketch what seems interesting to you. Remember to withhold judgement. Three or more months later, look at your sketches. You might see a progression! Either way, you’ll have tried something that you might not have tried before.
Think of something novel to do each week… And do it! It could be reading a different author, researching a topic that you’re curious about, trying a new sport or activity.
Keep a notepad and pen by your bedside. Write your dreams down as you remember them.
Keep another journal handy so you can write down ideas as you think of them. Don’t wait! Do it as soon as you think it. It could be a word, a descriptor, or a picture. Journal daily on your thoughts: what went well in your day, what you will do differently the next week. You might be amazed by what comes up when you collect all those wonderfully creative ideas -- they may even change the way you look at life!
Write a story or short poem about anything. Withhold judgement. Just play!
Take your camera with you wherever you go. Take pictures that interest you. If it’s of a person, remember to ask their permission first.
Pick a song you love and take a dance break. Have fun!
Look up a new word in the dictionary each day. Practice using it in a sentence, or move the letters around to see what other words you can develop from that one word.
Which of these will you make a regular practice? I’d love to know!
On a personal note…
I’m a person who loves to be busy. One could say I’m addicted to “busy” and sometimes forget to stop and smell the roses.
To keep my creativity alive, I ensure I take moments to step back, with no plan, and just “be”. In the morning with a cup of tea staring out at the trees in my back garden, going for a walk — in nature, by the water if I’m at the cottage — and looking at my surroundings through fresh eyes.
Usually this leads to jotting down ideas that come to mind in my “ideas” notebook, sketching, or writing my Morning Pages.
All of these activities clear my head and allow the path for creative juices to flow.
My clients often say I come to the table with a refreshing, perhaps even unexpected, perspective. It’s thanks to a dedicated practice of courageous creativity that I’m able to do so!
The world is a crazy place right now so I hope you find some grounding and inspiration in this post.
