Flex Your Creative Muscles. Build
Your New Life!
People seem to have the misconception that only a select few are
able to unleash a steady flow of creative genius. That is not true
at all. The fact is, creativity is very much like a muscle that
needs to be exercised in order to consistently give out great
results. If you don't practice harnessing creative thinking, this
skill will very much atrophy into inexistence. But keep working and
this skill will soon come to you in a snap.
So how do you unleash your creative thinking? Well, the first thing
is to become a human leech. No, we're not talking about just sucking
the blood out of every living being available, we're saying that you
should take in as much knowledge and learning you can find. Read
everything available -- good and bad, and keep your mind open to the
infinite possibilities of the universe. The more you know, the more
you'll want to know, and the more your faculty of wonder will be
exercised. Prepare to be amazed at little facts that add a bit of
color into your life. . . (Continued below)
Flex Your Creative Muscles. Build Your New Life (-
continued)
Focus on a creative activity everyday. Yes, it's an
effort. Even doodling is a creative activity. Don't let anything
hinder you. Mindlessness may be a creative activity, but for people
who are just starting out to unleash a little bit of creative
thinking in their lives, it is helpful and encouraging to have
concrete evidence, that, "hey, what I'm doing is getting somewhere."
So why don't you try it. Practice drawing for a couple of minutes
each day. Bring out your old camera and start snapping photos like
crazy. Keep a journal and make a point to write in it religiously.
Another cool idea is to write by describing something with your five
senses. Try to avoid vague adjectives like "marvelous," "amazing,"
and "delicious." Before you know it, you'll have built yourself a
tiny portfolio, and you'll be amazed at the growth you've undertaken
after amassing all those works of art. Who knows, you might actually
take to liking those things you do everyday. Pretty soon those
things will become a part of you and you'll be addicted to these
creative exercises.
Think out of the box -- or don't. Sometimes, constraints are
actually a good thing. Limitations discipline you to work within
your means. It enables you to be more resourceful. Creative freedom
is great, but limitations enforce discipline.
Try something new everyday and let your experiences broaden your
perspective. Explore a new district in your neighborhood. Spend an
afternoon in a museum to which you've never been before. Chat up
someone on the bus. Open up to the people around you. As you thrust
yourself out of your comfort zone more and more each day, your sense
of adventure grows and so does your zest for life. Think about it.
When was the last time you did something for the first time? If it's
been a while, I tell you, you've been missing out on a whole lot of
experiences that could've added to your growth, emotionally,
mentally, physically, or spiritually. Why don't you try bungee
jumping today? Not only will you learn, but you will also have
plenty of stories to share, enabling you to practice your
storytelling skills and making you the life of the party.
Embrace insanity. No, not to the point of practically admitting
yourself into the mental ward. As John Russell once said, "Sanity
calms, but madness is more interesting." Exactly! Every creative
thought was once deemed insanity by other "normal" people at one
time or another. Luckily, that didn't stop the creative geniuses
from standing by them. The thing is, sanity or being normal confines
people to think... well, normally. Withink limits. Creativity is
essentially breaking through barriers. Yes, this includes the
bizzarre and the downright strange. I'm not saying that you yourself
should develop a creative personality. That might go haywire. An
example of a creative personality would be George Washington, who
often rode into battle naked, or James Joyce, who wrote "Dubliners"
with beetle juice for an intense fear of ink, or Albert Einstein,
who thought his cat was a spy sent by his rival (or in thinking
creatively in this case, the term could probably be "archnemesis.")
It's important that your creativity doesn't get you detached from
the real world completely.
I hope this article has inspired you to start thinking beyond your
"limits." If you follow these steps pretty soon you'll be living a
life full of interesting adventures. Unleashing your creative
thinking will bring about a new zest for living life. Flex
Your Creative Muscles. Build Your New Life.
Flex Your Creative
Muscles. Build Your New Life |
