Creativity Is out Of The Box Thinking

Some of the easiest ways to heal is through breath work, naming what you are feeling and movement. Getting creative is another way, and always makes me feel good, even when the artwork of creative piece isn't what I had imagined. It does something to the emotions, it feels like it gives them a voice. That those emotions can be healed now as they have transmuted into something more than what they are. If your creative work is painting, drawing or written word, or any other form of creative medium, remember what you envision will always be better than your current skill level. My art never looks near as good as I envision, and a lecturer in Creative Design Degree told me this as a means to explain why we never truly are happy with our art work. The whole self criticism etc. and how the artist never likes their own work, blah blah blah. He made it make sense with that little sentence, and I know I can envision creative work well beyond my skill level, but I continually work at it. Currently I am in a plateau which is good, as my illustrator teacher mentioned you plateau for a while before suddenly your skill peaks again drastically only to plateau again. "Ha-ha annoying cycle" was my comment. She replied softly with a question, "but will it stop you?" I laughed hard with a resounding "No Way". Where she smiled and continued with the lecture.

In the moments where you plateau with your skills, keep practicing and challenging yourself, practice depth, distortion, perspective, scale, angles, etc. Grab a flowered vase from home (I want to get myself some flowers just for this exercise) and draw it on many different angles, perspectives and play with scale and detailed views or simplified lines, play with the art and if you're reading this and stating I am a writer this isn't relevant, challenge the normal writings you do, if you always write non-fiction, write a short fiction story. Write in rhyme like a poem, try different types of poems as remembering from English class there are many forms. Try Improv if you're an actor, try writing the script if you’re an improv, if you’re a dancer in ballet and Jazz, try hip hop or swing, if you're adamant you are not creative and this doesn't apply to you…. Have a conversation with someone you don't often talk to. Ask questions to learn and to listen not to respond. I find that tricky as I am neuro divergent, relating with a similar story is how I show that I understand, it is my way of expressing empathy. Not everyone receives it well and some think I am trying to take the storyline over to me; so I practice listening and asking questions, not to relate but to let them be heard without hearing another story. It is hard so I get that being creative isn't easy for everyone but if we all challenged ourselves to try something different and push against the grain of what we usually do, not only may we find a new love of creativity but we may find a new level of appreciation for what others do, for what we do and how easy it is for us, and so much more. Go into this practice as a learner, and come out of it hungry for more challenges of knowledge and creative pursuits.