Who Says You Aren't Creative?

Many times when people come into the store, I talk about the creativity of our artists and how imaginative they are. The majority of people respond by saying "I envy them, I'm not creative at all." How sad. Creativity exists in everyone - you just have to find your creative spirit. Look at anyone under the age of eight. Children love to draw, paint, doodle and create. Their potential for creativity is unlimited. Adults also have the capacity for creativity - they just have to work a little harder to find it, buried beneath social constraints, duty, learned rigidity and fear.

How do you unleash your untapped creativity you ask? Here are some ideas that I found in my research:

• Listen to classical music such as Bach or Mozart. Research has shown that you can increase both intellectual and creative powers when listening to classical music.
• Try different activities to see what appeals to you. Look for an area of natural inclination.
• Expose yourself to the arts - visual, performing and musical.
• Travel - take a break from your routine and look at things that are different - cultures, foods, scenery, perspectives.
• Brainstorm about a problem or situation in your life - the wilder the ideas, the better - come up with as many ideas as you can - then weed out the harebrained ones.
• Go for a walk - physical activity with a change of atmosphere will stimulate your brain.
• Study inspirational people - see what the great ones accomplished, how they thought, what they did for inspiration.
• Think and act like a child - seek out your inner child and let him/her play.
• Write your ideas down as they come to you. Perhaps they'll be improbable later but don't worry, at least 10% of them will be great.
• Exercise your brain - read, do puzzles, talk to clever people.
• Laugh - laughter stimulates creativity.

Joseph Chilton Pearce said "To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." What could you do if you weren't afraid? Allowing yourself to move past the fear of being ridiculed will set you free to listen to your inner child and let your creative juices flow. There are numerous resources to help you in this process. I recommend the book "Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. It has step by step instructions and exercises to stimulate your creativity. I googled on "creativity" when I was preparing to write this article. There are hundreds of websites about enhancing creativity and innovation. So as Nike says "Just do it". Be creative. Give yourself permission to try new things and branch out in different directions. Enjoy the journey.

Ruth