Motivational Article

The other day I was under pressure to find an arrangement for our daughter, while both of us had to work that evening.
For whatever reason, on this occasion, it didn't work out.
None of our regular babysitters were available.

While sharing my dilemma with Nisandeh, he said: "Come on!
Be creative! Think of something different!"
Hearing these words, my mind went blank. I found myself ready to scream, "I am not creative, and you know that..."

Later, in a more relaxed state, I wondered why this simple statement "be creative" caused such a strong internal reaction.

I grew up with the idea that being creative has to do with art: drawing, painting, sculpturing... or any other handcraft.
Since I didn't fulfill my and 'their' expectations in these areas, I was labeled as uncreative.

However, creativity is not a talent, but a skill, and therefore can be both developed and mastered.

The problem is that when it comes to creativity, it seems that most of us fall to the same trap, being victims of that mind-game called comparison.

We continue comparing our results to what other people are doing and compete with them as to what we wish we could do better. At the least, we wish to be as good as them...
In any case we strive not to be original.

We are raised in a culture that encourages 'normality' instead of 'uniqueness'.
However, creativity is about doing something different.
This scares most of us as we might make a mistake thus making us vulnerable to criticism or derogatory statements.

So, instead of daring to do things differently, we rather stay in our 'comfort zone' of what is known and widely acknowledged.
But this feeling of safety comes with a price tag... it costs us the adventure and the excitement of being creative.

We need to remember that we are born creative, but to remain creative we must risk. We have to dare to reach beyond the limiting borders of parental, educational and societal conditioning.

In order to expand your creativity and to experience more meaning and joy in your life, you need to break out of your comfort zone.
Stretch your thinking with your most powerful tool... your imagination.
Chances are you'll have to get it out of storage and dust it off.

Many of us believe that imagination and creativity are childhood impulses that don't belong in the adult world of result-oriented, predictable, and rational thinking.
For many of us, as kids, we had our hand slapped for being creative or spontaneous or taking risks.

How sad and wrong that is! Imagination and creativity are the keys to building a better world. They are essential for innovation, manifestation, happiness and spirituality.
This planet desperately needs dynamic, healthy solutions now and we're the ones to produce them!

People with imagination have courage to explore new realms.
They don't worry about making mistakes or looking foolish.
(Edison tried thousands of light bulbs until he got it right. If he was worried about making mistakes we would still be reading by candlelight)
They enjoy the excitement of creating new ways without knowing where they may lead.
They continually ask, "What if...?" And they welcome change and movement. The unexpected doesn't scare them.

Invite your imagination to play a primary role in your life.
Create the intention and make the time to experiment with your own mental artistry.
If you want, you can learn creativity, intuition and awareness techniques.
But more than anything, you simply need to open to new possibilities and practice playing with new ideas.

Do the following exercise and notice your reactions and insights.

Get a blank sheet of paper and a one-minute timer and:

1. In one minute, quickly list all the different ways you can use paper clips.

2. In one minute, list all the ways paper clips cannot be used. What can't you do with them?

Most people can think of more ways that a paper clip cannot be used than ways that it can. They set limits on their thinking and on their perceptions.
You can do a wealth of things with paper clips.
You can weld lots of them into any shape you want.
You can melt them down and recast them.
You can twist and bend them into lots of unique gadgets.

To really test your creativity, for every way you thought that a paper clip could not be used, reevaluate once more and assess how paper clips could possibly meet those requirements.

Imagination flows best when you are unstressed, relaxed and feeling a bit silly, so...

Have fun with it!