CREATIVITY

THE POWER OF YOUR CREATIVITY.   
By JAYNE MORRIS.   

As children we instinctively knew how to be creative. We explored our creativity through play. Despite being born to indulge in being creative, as we grew up we gradually became accustomed to more ‘adult’ ways of doing things and began to forget how much fun it can be to do things for the sake of it, for the sake of having fun! Much of this is because we stopped being encouraged to take risks. Creativity is an act of bravery, because in creating something we risk ridicule and failure. So, as we move from child to teenager and teenager to adult we learn to play it safe and conform within boundaries. Most of us do this help us ‘fit in’, to gain acceptance and to meet expectations of others.

What do you remember enjoying as a child?

Perhaps painting pictures, playing with your dog, building lego fortresses, dressing up as a fairy princess or jumping around on a pogo stick? What happened to the child who once dared to create, who found joy and fulfillment through painting and modeling, sculpting and singing, dancing and acting, playing in the sand and making music with instruments?

If you can rediscover the artist within, you can redesign your life and learn to live a life you love! That is the power of creativity…

Playing is the most creative human state. If we want to return to the state of creativity that children have naturally, we have to remember how to play. Want to give it a try? Pick up the nearest pen or pencil to you and find a scrap of paper. Allow yourself to doodle, turn the doodles into drawings of people or objects…. have fun with it… perhaps that circle will turn into a hairy monster, or is it a spider? That square might become a house for a gnome to live in…. notice if a story begins to form, perhaps a dialogue between characters you are creating, or a description of the scene that’s starting to take shape on the page. Lose yourself in your imagination for a few minutes, then come back to read on!

How’d you get on? Ok, this time get up from your desk – if there’s no one around, or you don’t feel inhibited imagine you’ve just been transformed into your favourite super hero – that’s it, off out of your seat! Time to fly around the room, take a few minutes and allow yourself to fully get into role, look around as you go to see if there’s anyone needing rescuing as you swoop by! Relax into your body and notice how energy levels increase as you move your arms and legs, leaping around the room, pretending you’re soaring above the buildings and trees, feeling like the strongest, fastest, most heroic man/woman on the planet.

Got your breath back? Ok! Well those were just a couple of exercises to warm you up. If you were too shy to try the second one because you’re at work or in company – give it a go the first opportunity you get on your own! You might be surprised at how much fun you’ll have.

While we play, we stay present in the moment and switch off about concerns about the past or future. Our conscious mind switches off allowing the sub-conscious mind to be highly productive. So when you are facing a big decision or problem to solve, or you have a project you are working on that needs a burst of creativity to bring it to life – one of the best things you can do is play! Yep! Staring at the page forcing things to happen won’t work. But, getting up out of your seat and having a bit of fun is scientifically proven to get the creative juices flowing again. Just a few moments engaging in your instinctive state of play is enough to occupy your conscious mind and free up the innovative thoughts of your unconscious…. the genius within!

If you’re wanting to take things a few steps further and would like to discover what your hidden creative talents might be and how they might link to the work you were born to do try making a list now of all the things you loved as a child and what it was that you particularly enjoyed about them (if you struggle to remember, try asking a parent, sibling or friend what comes to mind when they think of you as a child) – e.g.:

• Horse Riding – connecting with animals, feeling of freedom, thrill of speed
• Playing in sand – feeling of sand between toes, joy of getting messy, satisfaction of building the sand castle fortresses then the fun of jumping on top of them afterwards
• Collecting stamps – the excitement of getting new addition to collection, enjoyment of placing all the stamps together in rows and making them look neat and pretty, seeing pictures from all over the world and imagining what the countries they came from might be like

Next list the things you loved as a teenager, and what you especially enjoyed about them e.g.

• Shopping with friends – excitement of being out and about with pals, freedom from parents, thrill of getting special treat for myself
• Playing video games – escape into another reality, challenge of getting to next level, satisfaction of completing the game and having name on high score board
• Part time pet sitting – enjoyed spending time with animals, excitement of earning own money, opportunity to indulge in fantasy of having a ‘house like that one day’

Finally list the things you loved in your early 20s and what you enjoyed the most about each thing e.g.

• Travelling to other countries – fascination with other cultures, other cuisines and other environments
• Writing poetry – indulging in my imagination, self expression, exploring possibilities
• Jet-skiing – sense of excitement, feeling of freedom being outdoors and in natural surroundings

Look over your lists and see what themes emerge – for example:

• a love of being with animals
• exploring new places
• water lover

These themes are clues about the things you have a natural ability for, they indicate what brings you pleasure and things you are drawn to. The themes running through your life and any links you can see between them can open up a window to your creativity and to what your dream career might be. Begin to notice your urges and the longings you have deep down to experience things you’ve always wanted to do. These are signs of your soul expressing desires in alignment with your natural creative gifts and provide symbols of ways to best express and explore your true nature, your inner self.

Think of ways you might be able to reintroduce and indulge in some of these things in your everyday life, do little things like skipping along the pavement when nobody is looking, doodle silly pictures at your desk, pretend to be a monkey when you visit the loo, make a silly face at yourself when you’re putting on your make up/styling your hair. And save something extra fun up for the weekend that really allows you to play – head off to a theme park for the day with your partner, friends or kids, go to a water park and chase each other around the rapids, experiment with decorating a cake, buy some paints and have fun getting messy creating your very own masterpiece, get pots and pans out the cupboard and make your own drum set. Let your imagination run wild!

Experience the power of your creativity today, indulge in your talents, have fun with your passions – because you were born to!

About the Author
Jayne Morris, The POWER Coach, is Founder and Director of Power-Up™, the unique coaching system combining life coaching, meditation, visualization, martial arts, angelic healing and integrative art therapy. Jayne is an expert in helping busy, successful women do less and be more. Adopting a holistic and integrative approach Jayne helps her clients connect with their inner power, passions and potential, enabling them to pursue their dreams and make positive change.