Creativity is basically using your imagination to come up with something new. Based on where creativity is applied, creating something ‘new’ can mean different things. It doesn’t need to be entirely new to the planet and humanity to be considered creative. For our purposes creating something new, is creating, doing or just thinking something that is new to you.
They way I am approaching life, is with a firm belief that tapping into our individual authentic selves, brings our unique, optimal abilities to the surface, to do life in a way that suits us best and yields the results we desire.
Getting creative in everything we do can make that happen. The alternative is that we do life the way someone else has told us to. The impression I get is that the latter tends to result in dissatisfaction and even despair, mainly because of unfulfilled potential. If we want more from life we must think outside of the box.
Or as Einstein said,
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”
A creative approach to life activates your own inner resources to guide you mindfully and instinctively to new possibilities for yourself. More broadly, creativity opens the mind!
Creativity will (among other things) actively…
1. Help you solve problems effectively
Often when we are faced with problems that require our attentions, we can get stuck in thought patterns that keep bringing up the same solutions we always reach for. A creative mind can break out of these patterns and come up with new ways that promise a way onward and upwards
2. Improve your communication
Communicating your thoughts is an art unto itself. The best idea will never materialise if it is not communicated in a way that will reach the desired audience. The same is true for communicating your feelings to a loved one. The more creative your thought, the better you can find ways to use your communications to paint a picture that will be seen.
3. Reduce stress
Engaging in the creative arts, is like a form of meditation. You begin to focus your mind and calm your nervous system. Reducing stress in the body is everything when it comes to physical health and mental well-being.
4. Helps you adapt to change
Change happens to all of us. Sometimes by choice and sometimes not. Either way it is not an easy thing to face but the creative mind has an easier time finding its way through. The skill of problem solving and out of the box thinking, is very much needed in these situations.
5. Increase productivity
The creative mind has the ability to more easily stay engaged and focused leading to a better chance of increased productivity. Furthermore, if you have good ideas you can find ways to do things that are more time effective, letting you get more things done in less time.
6. Help to find purpose and meaning
The person with good ideas will always find a way to engage with the world in a way that keeps them going. When creative inspiration is low, we can feel stuck and lost, but engaging in creative arts, can get those juices flowing again, allowing for a drive and thought process that brings your purpose to life.
Creativity for Authenticity
Approaching everything you do with a creative mind, almost by default activates your authentic self. The creative mind requires your own unique energy and resulting thoughts, and it is therefore inherently authentic and truly your own. To finish, I want to say that the arts are what we associate with creativity for a reason, even though all aspects of life should involve creative thinking. The arts have a way to activate the part of our selves that creates originality. When we choose colours, shapes, materials for artwork, we choose based on what speaks to us as the unique human being we are. Therefore, whether you think you have talent in the arts or not, choosing to engage in such activities will benefit all aspects of your life. Just as you may choose to go to the gym and exercise your body, meditate to train your focus, choosing to engage with the arts will exercise your creativity.
