Living a creative life is about living a rewarding life. A life that is fulfilling and joyful, which keeps you moving forward to tackle negative & limiting beliefs, putting ourselves out there and trying new things frequently. We are all creative.
What is creativity?
There is a misconception that creativity is just about making art. Painting. Drawing. Pottery. etc. I believe that being creative is not just about making art in its traditional sense, it is about living a more joyful life that fulfills us. We are all creative and living a creative life is the idea that we can create a life that we are happy with and is aligned with our vision for ourselves.
"In a sense, as we are creative beings, our lives become our work of art" - Julia Cameron
Why is being creative important?
It is rewarding and satisfying. It brings you joy. It keeps you positively challenged (it is good for us to spend time in our stretch zone, not just our comfort zone) It's allows you to spend time on yourself, and try new things. It moves us away from fear. (fear of failure, of not being good at something). How do you know if you are creatively blocked? Jealousy is an excellent cue. "I could do that, if only...INSERT EXCUSE HERE".
My top 3 tips to cultivate creativity
Cultivating my creativity is something I have really been focusing on since the Coronavirus pandemic hit, as I realised it was an area I had been neglecting.
From my experience, here are 3 strategies that helped me cultivate and nurture my creative self.
Make time for creativity
Do your usual things a bit differently
Try one new activity every week
Let's explore these a little more:
1. Make time for creativity
You cannot just expect creativity to happen if you are not making time for it. That is like expecting to get fitter, but never exercising. This could mean:
a. Schedule it.
Make appointments with yourself, and schedule creative time into your day so you turn up for yourself. Don't leave it to chance, as it's very easy to fill up our time with other, ;ess worthy, distractions (endless hours of scrolling on our phones sound familiar!).
b. Book an artists date with yourself.
Julia Cameron describes this as "put simply, the artist date is a one to two hour block of time set aside weekly for an excursion on your own that celebrates and nurtures your creative self". Basically it is some alone time once a week, where you do something that nurtures your creativity.
c. If you do not know where to start with creativity, give yourself time to do activities which allow you to think.
Walking, driving in silence or a long hot shower work for me. For you, it could be a long relaxing bath, running, cycling, sitting outside with a coffee in the morning etc. When you invite some silence and space into your life, it gives you room to hear yourself above the noise of our daily lives.
2. Do your usual things a bit differently
Try a different recipe. Walk a different route. Listen to a different playlist on Spotify. We get ourselves stuck as we think that change has to be dramatic and all encompassing. Small consistent changes can be just as powerful over time. When we take ourselves off autopilot, we start to pay more attention to the possibilities of what is around us.
3. Try one new activity every week
Do something you have never done before! If you are not sure where to start, look at:
a. Activities you have been threatening to do for a while but haven't actually done
b. What did you enjoy doing as a child? (but had maybe stopped doing)
c. Activities where you are like "I wish I could do that" (well you can!)
This is also where we can come to accept that we do not have to be good at everything that we do. The ego will need to surrender. You can give yourself permission to do things because you like them or want to, without worrying about the fact you won't be winning any competitions any time soon! For me, I went surfing recently. Something I had seen people doing at the beach many times and thought "I'd love to do that" but never arranged it. When I did try it, I didn't manage to stand up on the board, but you know what I had a blast and would do it again. Solve for fun, not being #1 all the time.
Some reading resources that have really helped me on my way towards a more creative life are The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I will summarise my top takeaway from each below, as an add on to my own experience.
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
In the Artist's Way, Julia suggests the creative tool of "Morning Pages", which is 3 pages of longhand writing you do every morning as a brain drain. The idea is that when you clear away all the worries, jitters, etc, it allows you to find and express your creativity. In writing down your thoughts, you clear them. It is different from normal journaling, as you are not answering specific prompts, rather you write whatever comes into your mind. You write them first thing daily and by hand. Clarity is the fruit of morning pages, as is space. When you clear the niggling worries and thoughts from your head, it gives you energy and flow to explore your creative side.
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth talks about the importance of persistence. Too often when we do something new, we declare ourselves rubbish at it and so never do it again. It's a simple and generous rule of life that whatever you practice, you will improve at. She advocates that even small snippets of time dedicated to your creativity is better than nothing. For me, this means reading 10 pages of a book a page, or listen to 10 minutes of an audiobook, rather than worry about finding an one hour window to read sometime in the week.
"Miraculous turns of fate can happen to those who persist in showing up" - Elizabeth Gilbert
You do not need to take this advice and execute it perfectly. Be gentle and persistent in your efforts. After all creativity is meant to be fun!
I would love to hear all about your creative exploits, do get in touch and share if you end up doing something new or different🥰
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