3 simple ways to enjoy a more creative life

So, we’ve been thinking about creativity lately.

Since Adam and I are artists, one would think that we live a very creative life.

And we do….

But not often enough.

We think and talk about it a lot, but it’s easy to get stuck in our comfortable ways of seeing and doing things. It’s often a surprise to realize we are thinking along some deep rutted paths, even though we actively practice looking at challenges in new ways.

The truth is, creative thinkers have real advantages, not just in art, but  in the real world. If you spend a few minutes surfing the web you’ll find articles about why creativity is important in the workplace, science, relationships, and in everyday life.   Creative people are better problem solvers, and have less stress, and have more options in managing it.

What is Creativity?

Creative thinking is a way to look at and solve problems from a different perspective, avoiding typical solutions, and looking outside our everyday boxes. This creative process allows you to explore connections, meet new challenges and seek solutions that are unusual, original and fresh.

Creative thinking doesn’t just have to be about art or music or writing.  It can apply in any occupation, relationship or life hack problem that you need to solve.   The skills are transferable across all areas, and the better you get at thinking creatively, the more applications you’ll see in your life.

All things ebb and flow, so when we find that our creative juices are more at an ebb than a flow, Adam and I have come up with a few ways that we know will help us get back into the creative flow:

1. Play More

Yep.  Play more.

It  sounds counter intuitive to stop and play when you are already feeling overwhelmed. But it can change everything.

All kinds of play is important to enhance creativity.  The act of physically doing something that takes your mind away from the seriousness of life will often open the door to new ideas.  Taking hikes in the woods,  drawing cartoons,  ridiculous laughter,  going to the beach, and making fun stuff just because it is fun takes our minds off  problems long enough for new nonlinear solutions to show themselves.   When we play we remove the constraints that limit our thinking  to what we currently believe to be possible. We open ourselves us to a world of creative insights.

And when we do this often enough, these insights become our habit.

In addition to actively playing,  approaching life with a spirit of play can be an essential part of creativity.  Trying new things just to see what might happen is a great place to start.  New foods, new kinds of movies; new colors of paint on the wall.  Sometimes we don’t want to try something new because we’re afraid we won’t like it.  When you approach it with the spirit of play, it’s not such a big deal.

Does it really matter if you don’t care for the new dish you tried or that movie that you weren’t too sure about?  Nope.  And maybe you’ll see or hear or taste something that you never would have otherwise.

2. Engage in the Arts

It’s true that our creative thinking doesn’t only apply to art, music or writing.

Some interesting news though, is that the arts actually make you a more creative thinker.  In this Article coming out of the University of Michigan, they essentially show that the more successful a scientist is, the more likely it is that he or she engages in arts and crafts.  Some of these artistic scientists found connections between their research and their  artistic pursuits.  Even Albert Einstein said “The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music is the driving force behind this intuition…my new discovery is the result of musical perception”.

You don’t have to be a master artist or musician.  Just engaging in the arts stretches your mind and opens you up to perceive things in new ways.

In our studio and home, we play music and sing, learn new skills like knitting or crochet, or just for fun engage in any interesting art or craft form to stimulate the flow of creativity.

3. Feel the fear and do it anyway

“What if I fail?  What if people make fun of me? What if people think I am stupid? What if I actually AM stupid”

Fear can kill creativity.

Writing this blog is really scary for me.   What do we actually have to say that would interest anybody? I can imagine people asking why we think anyone would want to read about us.

Almost every time I make sculpture that explores new ideas or comes from deep within me,  I am afraid of what people might think.  Most the time I’m not even sure what I think. When I try new materials or try to learn a new skill, I  have to consciously let go of fear because I know that it will not serve me to listen to it.

Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book Big Magic says that “Fear is Boring”.  in this little blog post , she talks about how fear can “mistake creativity and inspiration for saber tooth tigers and wolf packs” , and that it is up to us to have a conversation with fear and tell it that it is not in charge.  Every successful person I have ever met moves past their fear to create. It’s not that they don’t feel fear,  it’s just that they do it anyway.

If we stay in our comfortable ways of thinking and doing,  we can only think what we have thought before and we can only do what we have done before.  We cannot grow. We cannot get better, be better, do more.

In this article in “BrainWorld” about the science of creative insight, the author sums it up beautifully:  “In other words, embrace curiosity. Do stuff. Go places. Collect experiences and gain knowledge.” This will be what creates connections that will increase creative insights throughout  your life.

How do you unleash YOUR creativity?  How do you play, and how do you deal with fear that would keep you immobile?  We’d love to hear your thoughts.