CHAPTER
9

Jump-Starting Your Creativity

In This Chapter

• Low- to no-cost ways to stimulate your creativity
• Opening up your creative spirit
• Forming creativity habits

In reading this book, you have been building toward a more creative life. You’ve gotten a chance to test out different methods, attitudes, and beliefs and achieved a greater understanding of what it takes to be creative. Perhaps you’ve felt inspired along the way. But the most effective way to truly live a creative life is to experience it, not just read about it. This chapter is filled with a number of no-cost or low-cost creativity stimulators you can incorporate into your life to jump-start your creativity.

Read about the different techniques with an open mind. It’s possible your first reaction will be one of resistance. You might think That sounds silly or There’s no way I could ever do that. My advice to you is to give the different suggestions a chance. They may develop over time—or not—but at least allow yourself to experiment and explore. You also may play off of some of the ideas presented here and create some methods of your own. That’s how creativity works!

Channeling Your Creative Side

I’m a creative being. You’re a creative being. That has been well established up to this point. Perhaps you believe you’re creative now but are still not really feeling it. You may be feeling like your engine has had a couple of false starts or has stalled out a lot. Just like a car, you have to take steps to keep things running.

In order to be productive, you need to find the spirit to create. The following are some fun, easy ways to invigorate yourself for the creative journey.

The Power of Play

One way to find motivation is to make sure you create enough fun in your life. Not only is building fun activities into your life stress-relieving, but you’re also more apt to feel and be creative if you’ve built enough pleasure into your life.

You can see the power of play in action with children. If you go to your local playground and watch their gleeful spirits in action from a distance, you can learn some powerful lessons about the openness to creativity they have.

For starters, kids are naturally curious, innocent, and uninhibited. And, generally speaking, children are very focused on what’s right in front of them. They’re not wrapped up in thoughts of what may happen in the future or recalling painful memories of the past. Although kids may have to deal with some very challenging periods from time to time, most of them have a resilience that keeps them from dwelling incessantly on their troubles, unlike many adults.

Because kids are so curious, they naturally explore all of their surroundings. Hand them a box of crayons and paper and they’ll begin drawing. They don’t need to be told what to draw; they do whatever comes to them. They use their imaginations to make entire kingdoms out of sandboxes, make up their own versions of games, and become absorbed in so many other activities that require nothing more than their own ingenuity. They don’t seem to care that their works aren’t perfect—at least not until they start to grow older.

So be childlike (not childish) and be sure to include enough fun times in your life. Your only goal in being playful should be to have fun! Allow yourself to dream, be spontaneous, and pretend. By getting in touch with your lighthearted spirit, you’ll be more likely to look at your challenges through a child’s eyes. Like a suitcase filled with boulders, it’s the heavy feelings that you carry with you that weigh you down and will keep you from this sense of play. Dump the suitcase and engage in recreation—or a re-creation from times gone by.

CREATIVITY COMPASS

One of the most touching experiences I’ve ever had was during a time I was feeling sad and my son, J. P., picked up on it. To cheer me up, he gave me a calendar as a Christmas present that featured beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the type of images he knew I liked to photograph but had gotten away from doing. He gave me a handwritten note along with the gift, which read, in part, “Get back to walking and photography; it’s your savior!” At age 14, he was able to express his empathy without bringing himself down. I think he was able to do this because he knew his actions would inspire me to get back to what I loved doing—and in fact, it did!

Lightening Up with Laughter

Here’s another cue to take from children—having a good laugh! Laughter keeps you in an upbeat emotional state, relieves tension, and keeps you loose, which provides an advantageous backdrop for activating creativity. Laughter also connects you with others, which can be good in the workplace, among volunteers, and with friends and family—anytime you want to create a stronger bond. As long as you avoid inappropriate humor, which is delivered at the expense of others or may not go over well because of bad timing, you get the benefit of putting both yourself and others in a better mood.

Studies also show humor can help spark ideas and solve problems. Researchers have found that fully grasping a joke involves a complex cognitive process involving both hemispheres of the brain; the left side processes the joke’s words, and the right side helps your brain understand the joke. (So don’t feel badly if you don’t always get the joke!) Because the creative process involves whole-brain thinking, you can probably understand how that complexity of understanding can promote creativity. Learning to laugh at yourself also may help your creative process because it means you’re letting go of your inner critic and allowing yourself to be imperfect.

Can you remember the last time you had a good laugh? It’s hard to “make” yourself laugh, and when you really need to lighten up, that’s usually when it’s the hardest. So right now, write down those things you can do for a quick laugh. This will be your “Laugh List.” An example of something you can put on your list would be to go online to YouTube to search for your favorite comedian’s videos and then take five minutes to watch a couple. Just put anything on your list that may provide you with the mood shift you need. The next time you’re stuck for a creative solution or simply having a bad day, you can then grab your “Laugh List” and see if you find that partaking in one of your items is funny enough to get you back on the right track.

Dating Yourself

In her book The Artist’s Way, author Julia Cameron recommends a practice she calls “the artist date.” This involves taking yourself on a date—no other passengers allowed!—and dedicating some time each week to tap into your creative self. On these dates, you should be spending some quality time alone engaging in activities that nurture you, inspire you, and feed you in positive ways. They are about letting your guiding light shine in—receiving insight, ideas, and revelations that help steer you in a creative direction.

Artist dates are also a way to indulge yourself. They do not have to be about art and they do not have to cost any money. For example, you might visit a park you’ve never been to before and explore the new surroundings. So think about things you’ve thought about doing but never did or engage in an activity in a different way. For example, I have gone to the movies plenty of times but never by myself. Therefore, I decided to see what that experience would be like to go alone, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. And if you schedule these dates into your calendar the same way you do a business meeting, they will take on great importance.

CREATIVITY COMPASS

Shirell was a participant in one of my creativity courses that was based on The Artist’s Way. When I explained to the class the concept of taking an artist’s date, she immediately reacted negatively and stated aloud “This isn’t what I signed up for!” Although her resistance was strong, I gently encouraged her to experiment with the practice at least once and told her that she had nothing to lose. The following week, she ended up being the “star” of the evening. That week, she took not only one artist date, but two, and her description of her dates was so amazing that she inspired everyone in the class! You may be surprised how good this activity feels once you get in the habit of “dating yourself.”

In the creativity groups I facilitate, the participants begin the class by sharing how they spent their artist date. Some describe doing things like taking an hour to visit an art supply store to really examine all of the different aisles and their contents—where buying wasn’t the focus—and coming away feeling refreshed with a handful of ideas. Some of the experiences sound like so much fun, they inspire others in the group to plan the same kind of artist date. Like these people, make your artist date an adventure you look forward to each week.

Getting Loose and Dancing

Do you love to dance, or are you intimidated by the thought because you don’t consider yourself to be a good dancer? If you dance as a creativity warm-up, you have nothing to worry about because you will not have an audience. You’ll be dancing in the confines of your own living room, bedroom, or whatever room works best in your own home. If nobody’s watching, there’s no judgment—unless your inner critic is speaking up. Here’s the good news: That little voice can be quickly silenced. Cue up your favorite upbeat music, crank up the volume, hit play, and just begin dancing!

Dancing is a great way to loosen up and feel relaxed. There’s no thinking involved. Pretend you’re a ballet dancer, a break dancer, or even a rock star. Play air guitar. Sing into your hairbrush. Be silly. Start or end your day this way, and if you spend your days at home either working or not, you can do this in the middle of the day, too. Dancing helps to decrease your stress. When you’re free from tension and anxiety, that’s when creative insights are most likely to occur. One unknown source summed it up this way: “We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.”

Becoming a Conscious Observer

By now, you’ve probably gathered from the various suggestions in this book that increasing your awareness—becoming a conscious observer—can enhance your creativity. The following are three ways you can do this:

Take the “wrong” way. Going the same way every day has probably become so routine to you, there have been times when you missed your exit or drove right past your destination. You stop noticing what’s around you unless it practically hits you in the head, such as seeing orange cones in a construction zone that make you slow down. So if you take the same way to work, the gym, the grocery store, or anywhere you drive or walk on a regular basis, deliberately take a different route, even if it means going out of your way. Occasionally taking the “wrong” way, even if it’s the long way, is a good idea to include in your creative practices. Anything that can shake up your day in some way has the potential of inspiring you because it’s new and different.

INSPIRATIONAL INSIGHT

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Put your head in the clouds—observantly. Another free way to boost your creativity is to look up and play a game you’ve probably engaged in before—finding creativity in the clouds. That’s when a particular cloud configuration reminds you of an animal, an angel, a monster, or any number of things your imagination conjures up. Make it a practice to look to the skies on a regular basis to see if you can discern any interesting shapes. You can jot down your thoughts about what you see in your idea journal or dictate them into your recorder. You might even take it a step further and play around with writing a poem, short story, or song lyrics that describe your observations. The idea is to get your wheels turning on a continual basis.

Take a walk. Hiking may be a favorite pastime of yours, but whether you walk in nature or indoors, either practice may spark your creativity. In fact, a team of Stanford researchers found that walking amidst any surroundings significantly increased creativity levels compared to sitting. Even those who walked on a treadmill with nothing more than a blank wall before them produced twice the number of creative responses as those who were sitting down. So the walk itself and shortly afterward—not the environment—was the primary reason for this boost. The results also showed that while walking helped the participants with coming up with new ideas, focused thinking that required a single correct answer did not benefit from walking. When given a word-association task, the walking participants actually did a little worse than those who were seated. The researchers concluded that walking is useful for divergent thinking as opposed to convergent thinking (see Chapter 4 if you need a refresher on those two types of thinking), making walking especially beneficial in the beginning stages of creativity, when you are just coming up with ideas.

Seeing What’s Not There

Throughout this book, I’ve suggested how important it is to be aware of your internal workings, as well as your surroundings. As you know, being a keen observer can lead you to insights that go unnoticed for those who walk through life unaware. Just as important as seeing what’s around you is seeing what’s not there.

So whether you’re involved in a work project, creative activity, or just taking a walk with no particular thoughts in mind, pay attention to what’s in front of you. Use your sight, your hearing, your touch, your sense of smell, and (if it makes sense) your taste to make observations and then think about what isn’t there that might add value. Start asking questions such as “What’s missing?” or “What could be added to make this more appealing for my customers/family/pets?” This is one way ideas are born. Doing this practice on a regular basis may not enlighten you every time, but it will get you in a habit that may prove useful when it’s most needed.

Making Creativity a Habit

It takes a long time to form a habit—longer than the 21-day myth that has been perpetuated for years. According to James Clear in his article, “How Long Does it Actually Take to Form a New Habit? (Backed by Science),” the belief that a habit takes 21 days to form sprang forth from Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon, who observed that it took a minimum of 21 days for his post-op patients to adjust to their new situation. Many people latched on to the doctor’s observation, which also included noticing his own behavior and adaptation period. However, they failed to realize this was his opinion based on his own observations, not a scientific study. In reality, Clear found based on a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology that it takes 66 days for a new behavior to become automatic and 18 to 254 days to form a new habit, depending on the person, situation, and their actions.

Given this information, what are you willing to commit to as you cultivate your creativity? While it might take you a little longer to form healthy habits than you thought, the good news is the study also showed that if you miss a day along the way, it’s not like you have to start all over. As I said in Chapter 1, creativity is a commitment. You will find that your creative spirit is alive and well as long as you have a strong dedication and patience with the process. The following suggestions can help you slowly build toward making creativity a habit.

CREATIVITY COMPASS

A technique I use whenever I have a lot of writing to do that’s on a tight deadline is to change my environment. I work out of a home office, meaning there are plenty of distractions to contend with every day. When I need to write my magazine articles, I usually go to an internet café to get away from my usual surroundings. I have done this practice so often that when I arrive at my destination, it’s like a signal to my brain that it’s time to write. I set the parameter that I’m not “allowed” to leave until I completely finish the articles on deadline. When I’m finished, I usually reward myself with a caramel latte! Like me, see how changing your environment can heighten your productivity and creativity.

Tabling Your Technology

How many times have you observed entire tables of people at a restaurant who have their heads buried in their mobile phones? Rather than actually conversing with each other, they’re “checking in” via social media apps and seeing what others around the world are saying rather than enjoying the company of those right in front of them. It’s becoming more prevalent in a society that seems to depend on its technological advances. Have you ever been guilty of paying more attention to technology than people? I certainly have, and my aim is to do less and less of that. Technology isn’t really to blame as much as your own behavior with the devices. So it’s not that you use them; it’s more a matter of how and when.

Therefore, I am recommending that you set up a period of time where you go technology free in order to help you focus creatively. This means temporarily ditching your cell phone, tablet, computer, camera, video games, or anything electronic. While you may be resistant to this idea at first, take a moment to consider the benefits and how you might structure it. The following are some small changes you can make in your technology use that can yield big results:

• See if you can make it through working on a project without your cell phone. Let your voicemail handle the call when an interruption could cause you to lose focus.
• Keep your internet browser and email program closed for an hour or two when working on your computer. Just because your inbox notifies you when a new email arrives doesn’t mean you have to stop what you were doing to respond to it.
• Set up a program within your own family with rules such as no mobile phones, laptops, or tablets at the dinner table.
• Declare one day a week—perhaps a Saturday or a Sunday—in which you don’t turn on your computer.
• Set up a technology-free zone, such as in your bedroom, where no devices are allowed. For example, you can use a “real” alarm clock rather than an app on your smartphone to wake you up.

It’s really about being conscious of how you use technology to your advantage. Playing a video game or making a fun post on a social media site every once in a while doesn’t cause any harm if it’s meant to give yourself a quick break; in fact, that kind of activity might actually serve to refresh you. It’s when you engage in this type of behavior to numb out or avoid what’s really important that it can become a problem.

By taking control of your technology, you may actually increase your productivity because you are at the helm rather than allowing the rings and dings to dictate your next action. And more productivity means you’ll have more time to have fun in your life by yourself or with your friends and family, which is vital to your creativity!

Giving Yourself an A

In the book The Art of Possibility, author Benjamin Zander talks about a concept he used with his graduate students at the New England Conservatory, where they were studying the psychological and emotional factors involved in musical performance. To alleviate their anxiety and anticipation of failure, he decided to give every student an A right from the start. The only requirement was that the students had to write him a letter dated the following May that described their insights and accomplishments as if they had already happened. The idea was to use this grade of excellence to open them up to possibility. Zander was mostly interested in the attitudes, feelings, and views of the person they became during the course.

How can you incorporate this “giving an A” practice in your life to support you as a person overall and specifically your creativity? You could start by thinking about something you wish to create in the next year. Pretend you’re getting graded and, like Zander’s students, have been told you’ll be getting an A. In keeping with his concept, put yourself into the future and write a detailed letter, looking back, that tells why you deserved to be given an A. Talk about your state of mind, your process, your perceptions, your gratitude—anything you realized along the way that supported you in your journey to an A. Talk about you as a person—the person—who pulled off precisely what you set out to do and how you feel about yourself as that person.

Don’t limit yourself to this one time. This is an especially great exercise to practice over time if you frequently experience anxiety and fear of failure. Get in the mode of always giving yourself an A!

INSPIRATIONAL INSIGHT

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.”

—Osho

The Time Is “Write” to Capture Your Ideas

I can’t say enough about what this next practice by Julia Cameron (author of The Artist’s Way, which I discussed earlier) has meant to my life. In her book, she recommends writing three longhand pages every day first thing in the morning, a practice she refers to as “morning pages.” The idea behind this exercise is to write whatever comes to your mind—a “stream of consciousness.” Its purpose is not to create art or meaningful writing (although it has been my own experience that the occasional flash of creativity hits me while writing and I just go with it). Sometimes those thoughts become songs, poems, ideas for blog posts, or business strategies, while other times they don’t develop into anything. And that’s okay! Again, the pages are really not meant to be anything other than a way to help you recover your creativity. Your writing may be filled with negativity, hope, optimism, and everything in between. There is no right or wrong way to write your pages.

You may feel like you couldn’t possibly fill three pages each and every day. Make yourself, even if it means repeating yourself. This practice is for everyone—not just writers! If you’re feeling resistance, dig deeply and ask yourself what’s behind your opposition. For example, I have found that once I have written one and a half pages, the rest comes easily to me. Sometimes what I write is like a dumping ground, while other times I’m expressing my appreciation. If work is what’s most prevalent on my mind, I’ve even used the pages as a kind of to-do list to help me prioritize my responsibilities. Having been dedicated to this practice for more than four years, I can’t tell you how it has enhanced my creativity. Through writing my morning pages, I process and purge the thoughts I know aren’t serving me or I gain a better understanding of new realizations. This opens me up to allow creative insights to flow freely through me.

Like me, think of all of the thoughts you would rather not have in your head as filling up a pitcher. You would like to add some pure, refreshing water to the pitcher, but it’s already full—there’s no room. Writing your morning pages every day allows you to dump the unwanted contents of your pitcher and fill it with more tasty contents. Some of the people I have coached have used the pages to write out their hopes and dreams and to express their gratitude. Again, you get to decide what you want to express, which happens in the moment of writing.

Beyond morning pages, I recommend you carry a notebook (or “idea journal”) and a pen with you everywhere you go. It should be one that’s small enough to carry with you at all times in a pocket or purse. That way, you can jot down your thoughts right away that may otherwise vanish like the wind. If you have a smartphone, another option is to download and use an app that’s handy for typing notes as they occur to you.

Creating One Simile a Day

A simile is used to associate two different things by linking them together with the words like or as. This makes the description more visual, colorful, or detailed. Some familiar clichés are “She’s as quiet as a mouse” and “He’s like a bull in a china shop.” In order to get into the habit of being creative, begin to think of your life poetically using similes. Perhaps writing one simile per week is a good start, but if you really want to challenge yourself, write one simile per day. This will get you in the habit of doing a “mini creation” daily.

You can use the different elements and people in your life for inspiration. For example, “My life is like a brook—always in flow” or “My kids are as different as snowflakes.” Similes can be stated simply or be more involved, such as “Just as leaves fall to the ground in no particular pattern, my mind often has scattered thoughts.”

DEFINITION

A simile is a figure of speech that links one thing to another using the words like or as to make the comparison more memorable.

Making Creativity a Game

When I was considering leaving the first job I had after graduating from college, I was at a real crossroad, unsure of what to do. I didn’t just want to quit without having another job lined up yet, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t in the right place. My father told me to pick up my favorite book, open it randomly to a page, and there would be my answer. I thought it sounded crazy at the time, but at around 2 in the morning when I couldn’t sleep, I thought “What do I have to lose?” I picked up Richard Bach’s Illusions book, opened it randomly as instructed, pointed to a section on the page with my eyes closed, and was absolutely amazed at what I saw. The text actually talked about leaving a job. I took it as a sure sign, quit that job, and never looked back.

This same fun technique can be applied whenever you’re looking to generate more ideas or add to an existing idea. Or use it as I did to find a solution. It doesn’t matter whether you select a book, dictionary, or other type of publication. The same concept applies. Open it randomly and see what you find. The wording that you point to may not give you as clear-cut an answer as my experience did, but you can look at it and determine whether there are any similarities or differences that may be applied to your concept. Or perhaps it will prompt new ideas altogether. You can boil it down to a single word on the page, a sentence fragment, or a paragraph. Usually shorter is better, but there is no specific rule about using this tool other than to use your imagination. The idea is that it helps you move forward in the creative process.

Another practice you can do on a regular basis is one called “What if?” I can recall as a child having endless fun with my best friend going through different scenarios and applying this question. Sometimes the questions were unrealistic, such as “What if the sun fell out of the sky?” and “What if we could fly?” Other times, they were more likely to happen, such as the time we asked “What if Duke (a mean-looking German Shepherd that was my family’s watchdog) got loose?” and the dog actually got loose! If you play the “What if?” game, I think it’s safe to assume you don’t have to worry about any scary dogs coming after you, but you might come up with an unusual idea that leads you in a new, unanticipated creative direction.

Using the “What if?” question means you’re expanding your thinking. Just like I did as a kid, get in the habit of asking absurd questions. When you make unlikely connections, it often leads to fresh insights. The results of this can be seen in everyday items, such as restaurant menus. Creative chefs may have asked “What if?” questions in developing and offering menu selections such as Caesar salad pizza, smoked beer, and arugula spaghetti. I’m sure you’ve participated in group discussions when someone has said “Well, we’ve always done it that way.” Be the first to challenge that and respond by saying “What if we broke from that tradition and did it this way?” While you should be prepared for those members of the group who find their security in safety and convention to immediately discard such new ideas, there may be others who appreciate your new line of thinking.

CREATIVITY KEY

In reading about the various tools presented in this chapter, it’s natural for you to feel more aligned with some more than others. I caution you to beware of your own resistance, as sometimes the thing that’s causing you discomfort is the very practice that can lead to your greatest creative boost. Whatever that feeling is—anxiety, pride, fear, or some other emotion—allow yourself to feel into the sensation. Take enough time to get to a place of peacefulness and check in again. See if you are now willing to give the tool a fair shot. These practices, although simple, can lead you to breakthroughs you may not otherwise experience. You may even discover the benefits can be magical!

Letting Gratitude Fuel Your Inspiration

Even the most optimistic person has bad days and gets stuck creatively. One of the quickest ways to shift yourself from a negative emotion to a positive one is to come from a place of appreciation.

One way to feel appreciative of your own gifts, especially when you’re feeling upset or disappointed due to criticism, is to keep a gratitude file. If you keep a gratitude file, you have somewhere to turn without having to depend on anyone else in moments like after your boss shoots down your idea or your friend doesn’t embrace your latest painting. You can set up both a physical file and an electronic file. In the physical file, stash some of your favorite cards or letters you received from friends, family, your boss, or your co-workers. When you’re feeling down, you can then take out your file, pick out one of the items, and read it to remind yourself how much you are loved.

For example, after my music partner, Mike, and I released our debut “Connected Souls” CD, I received many flattering emails from those who purchased it. I responded to each person and expressed my gratitude. When I went to discard the emails, they seemed too precious to trash; I so appreciated that they took the time to express their feelings. So I set up an electronic gratitude file that I simply named “Compliments” and saved their emails to this new file. Now anytime I receive a complimentary email from someone, I drag it into this file. I hardly ever look at the file, but I know it’s there, ready to help me shift my outlook when needed.

Another way to become inspired and grateful is through other people. Surround yourself with people you admire, either in person or through the electronic magic of the internet. You can accomplish this by attending online workshops, listening to TED talks (short, influential talks presented by speakers through the nonprofit organization Technology, Entertainment, Design, which you can learn more about at ted.com) and audio presentations, and reading books. Some may be directly related to creativity, but choose any topic that makes your heart sing. Think about the people in your life whom you respect, bring you joy, light you up, and motivate you to be the best person you can be. What can you learn from them? Is it possible for you to emulate them and still reveal and display your own style? (In Chapter 12, you will have an opportunity to ponder this more deeply when creativity partnerships are discussed.)

The Least You Need to Know

• Stimulating your creativity does not have to be expensive. There are a number of free methods to kindle your creative juices.
• Your creativity depends on making enough time in your life to have fun. Creative insights happen when you least expect them and it’s usually when you’re feeling relaxed.
• It takes a long time to make something a habit. You will find that your creative spirit is alive and well as long as you have a strong dedication and patience with the process.