Awakening Creativity in Five Minutes or Less

I recently had a chance to learn about Creativity from Emily Hanlon, our SelfGrowth.com Official Guide to Creativity and I picked up some great insights. She sees creativity as a call to adventure and it is not limited to the artists and innovators. Rather, creativity is a path from which the journey of life is explored and its fullness embraced. Creativity is forged in the fire of the unconscious and the chaotic depths of the unknown where nothing is predetermined and everything is possible. Its presence is heralded by the seductive "spark" of an idea or image that brings with it feelings of flight and the godlike brilliance. Yet no sooner does the spark rev us up with the feeling that we can do anything, than, more often, we find a 101 reasons to cast away the idea– worse, stomp it into the dust bin of possibilities that might have been our lives. Emily knows how to keep the mystery and adventure in creativity alive while reducing the anxiety and fear of failure the often follows the ecstatic glow of inspiration. She has been a creativity and writing coach for over thirty years and a best-selling novelist. Her passion is guiding others on the journey to self-awareness through the creative process. Emily breaks down the Creative Process down into three stages: 1. The Spark of Inspiration 2. Gestation 3. Birth The first stage is the Spark of Inspiration. It’s that part that we love. That life-enhancing “Wow!” moment of inspiration when we are swept away by a new idea or the possibility of change in our life. If allowed, inspiration will be carried into the period of gestation. This is the birth place of your sleeping and waking dreams. It is also the hardest part of the Creative Process. Why? Because the human mind, which can make as little sense of our waking dreams and it can of out sleeping dreams, tries to jump in and give order to our inspiration before gestation can take place. Trying to analyze and evaluate that which hasn’t yet take form is like taking the baby out of the womb and needing it be fully formed before it’s had time to gestate. • After an experiment failed for the ninety-ninth time, Thomas Edison said, “Now I know at least ninety-nine ways it wouldn’t work.” • Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he hit 714 home runs. • You fell, a lot, when you first tried to walk, bike, skate, ski. There is no such thing as failure in creativity. If you allow the gestation to take place in its own mysterious time and way, birth will follow. Then your mind gets to work. You think, you organize, you focus on getting the project finished and looking good! It is a busy time, filled with its own energy. At the end of the day, you think, “Ah, what a productive day I had! My creative juices were really flowing!” The rational mind likes to take credit for being the creative genius; but as incredible and invaluable a machine as the mind is, its gears are driven by the work done during the periods of inspiration and gestation. If you’d like to find out more about power of the mystery and learn how to befriend the chaos of the creative process, sign up for Emily’s mailing list and receive free, the TeleSeminar: Creative Chaos: Its Difficulty, Its Call, Its Freedom Now for our question of the day – How has creativity improved your life? Have you developed a unique idea or concept that has improved your life? Has the spark of creativity inspired you or motivated you in any way? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.