Gratitude and Your Creativity

Gratitude is one of the most under-rated aids to creativity and removing blocks. When supporting clients during the coaching process or using The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, a book I love to recommend and facilitate reading together, I’ve learned that there are scores of ideas to consider when feeling blocked or stuck. Emphasizing gratitude is at the top of my list for supporting creativity’s flow. It works both for the creative process as well as for a mood enhancer and it’s simple and easy to do.Here’s the recommendation and it’s as simple as can be. When I make it a point to document, shout, emphasize all for which I am grateful, a special vibe seems to fill the space. Make it big. Exaggerate how grateful you are for so many many things. Make it a game. And, if you’re with a pal or significant other, include that person. When my expression of gratitude includes another, we’re both winners. It seems that everyone is a winner when gratitude is around.

Think about someone you know who seems always to have an attitude of gratitude. Those are people who seem to radiate a special love--a contagious form of peace. They are our role models. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is something any of us can choose to do. I notice that when I am filled with gratitude I’m not paying attention to what’s wrong or focusing on grievances; I’m feeling grateful instead. In addition to the phrase, “attitude of gratitude” I also recently heard that “Being grateful or hateful is up to me”. We have a choice. n In many ancient teachings we are reminded that giving and receiving are the same and this surely is proven with gratitude. When you are emphasizing gratitude, you will also experience it throughout your body/mind/spirit. I do. And when I do, my creativity seems so naturally flowing that blocks or being stuck are simply not an issue. I hope you’ll try it.
Think of someone who encouraged you or seemed proud of your early accomplishments. Is there a note you could write to appreciate that person by expressing your gratitude? When we pay tribute to those who have been supportive to us, our sense of gratitude expands. It may have been someone in your family or a gesture from a passing stranger. You surely can think of a few incidents where another’s ‘pat on the back’ came at a time that mattered. n Whether to support your creativity because you want to create more or as an experiment to experience your own ability to cause yourself to ‘feel good’, consider all for which you are grateful. It’s self growth of the richest kind. Go ahead and start a list. Betcha you’ll find your list expanding as the gratitude vibrations radiate all around you and out to those with whom you come into contact. What a difference this will make both to your internal world and those of us who benefit from your choice to adopt an attitude of gratitude. Strikes me as a version of changing the world, one grateful person at a time. Hope you’ll give it a try & enjoy the results.