Re-Discovering Your Creative Energy: A Few Simple Ideas to Help You Find Your Creative Self
by Laura Garrison

If you're looking for ways to re-discover your creative side and release the artist within, here are a few simple activities that you can do to get the creative energy flowing.

First of all...Express Yourself!!

What type of personality do you have? Are you able to express that personality freely at work or with friends? If not, tackle one of these projects and let your personality shine!

• Decorate your house, or at least one room, the way you like it. It doesn't matter what anyone else tells you, just decorate your room, your way. It's your room! This will help you unleash your own self-expression. I am an artist at my core. My husband Dan and I hand-textured the walls of our home with true Venetian plaster in shades of blue, purple, green, yellow, and brick that we had custom -created and caused a bit of a stir. The beautiful and very bold lavender/wine/plum color we created, for example, was actually named "Garrison Purple" by the vendor. More on this in a moment.

• Dress the way you want. If tackling the house is too big of a job, then take a look at your wardrobe. Dress how you want to dress. Trust yourself and trust your instincts. You are dressing for you, not the world. Don't worry; you can express yourself while still being professional at work. A very successful friend who works in a high-profile industry calls herself an 'artist's palette'. While some people have insisted that business suits should be part of my professional attire, the fact is that Levi's and cotton sweaters are my standard uniform, along with Locals flip flops from Hawaii.

You have to find ways in everything you do to allow creativity to flow through you. This can be as simple as the way you sign a letter, mail an envelope, the way you dress, or the house that you live in.

Change Your Routine

If you're stuck in a rut, or have a 'creativity block', find things that will take you out of your normal routine. It doesn't really matter how stimulating your work or home life is. After awhile, you adapt to whatever you do on a day to day basis and things become mundane, expected, rote, and yes, ordinary. When you take a moment to step out of your normal routine for some well deserved me time, you'll be open to new ideas and new thoughts.

So, just how can you easily step out of your normal routine?

1. Read a book that you wouldn't usually pick up. A mentor of mine suggested borrowing one title each month that I would not, under normal circumstances, even consider reading. I learned all about true Venetian plaster, for example, this way, and now our home is definitely a showcase for out-of-the-ordinary colors!

2. Watch a funny or uplifting movie that you wouldn't typically choose to watch.

3. Compliment a stranger with sincerity. I learn an incredible number of things from new people.

4. Go shopping at a store that you have never been to. You don't necessarily have to buy anything, just go in and look around. I decided to learn how to kiln fire my own glass tiles by shopping at one of the stores my husband insisted we would never set foot into.

5. Meet a friend you haven't seen for a long time and listen twice as much as you would normally talk.

and...

6. Send an unexpected and heartfelt card to someone you care about!

Another simple activity to increase your creativity is to fully pay attention to your surroundings for a change. You may laugh and think that is absolutely ridiculous after all, you see the same things and people everyday. And you probably even drive the same route to and from work, too. I invite you to take a few moments and actually pay attention to your surroundings, to be aware and open rather than dismissive of the ordinary. See things the way they are and not the way you think they are. Our neighbor's tree is putting on an amazing color show this year; I've taken several of the leaves and framed them for our home. In turn, several friends have requested the pressed leaves pictures for themselves.

A few more examples:

• Take a different route home from work. Discover shortcuts or new neighborhoods.

• Sit on a park bench and watch the people, the children and the surroundings.

• Have you ever really paid attention to the people in your office? What about the person that sits right across from you? Take five or ten minutes and take notice. Don't stare, just pay attention. You may find that other people can be quite the source of inspiration for creativity.

Use Your Imagination

If you have a favorite poem or story that you loved as a child, why not sit down and start writing that story and make the changes that you always thought should be there. What was Jack really up to when it came to that bean stalk? Did Rapunzel have a wig? You don't have to re-invent the wheel, simply make the everyday and ordinary your own. Get the Crayolas back out and color the flowers you draw whatever colors you choose. My Mom nearly fainted when I told her Dan and I were plastering the bedroom in two shades of the Garrison Purple. Funny how things change sometimes: She now wants a similar set of custom-created colors for her own home.

Increasing your creativity starts in small, simple ways. Your life is filled with opportunities for you to test your creative energies and the world is full of color, movement, stories and fun. There is no right or wrong in art, either, so enjoy yourself and let your creative self shine!


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