Creativity 101

9th of September ~

Imagine that you have decided to do some post-grad work in creativity.  By some miracle you have found a boutique program that offers weekend intensives in YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS.

                                                                               photo by D Sharon Pruitt

I believe the syllabus looks something like this:

Creative Intensive Syllabus

Module One:  What is Your Creativity?
Review your creative history for highlights and sources of flow and satisfaction.  Explore your creative preferences.  Do you work in creative bursts or methodically move to completion?  Do you prefer deep focus or enjoy juggling multiple projects?
Assignment: journal about your creativity and creative preferences.  Isolate two factors vital to your process.

Module Two: The Creative Process
Many models define the creative process.  We will focus on four aspects: 1) Stimulus/Inspiration, 2) Generation/Divergence, 3) Development/Convergence and 4) Implementation/Application
Assignment: Choose one aspect for focus and design an activity relevant to your weekend project.

Module Three: Field Trip
Building on Module Two, take yourself to a relevant venue and DO the activity.

Module Four: Review
Reflect on your experience.
Assignment: Write a poem, create a collage, make a movie, photograph or illustration about your experience.  Do not make it great.  Just make it.

Module Six: Action Planning and Re-Entry
Note the highpoints of your weekend intensive.
Assignment Options: Schedule the next one and begin planning for it OR Identify one method to bring your insights into your daily life.

Daily Activities
Morning Check-In: unscheduled time lingering over a warm beverage followed by a walk outside.
Post-Lunch: napping
Evening: Sitting in a lobby or on a log and merely observing for 15 minutes.

PreRequisites:

  •     A belief that your creative side deserves attention
  •     An open mind and a willingness to surprise yourself
  •     Respect for the newborn ideas or products you generate

As your informal Adjunct Professor, I encourage  you to take this Creativity Intensive sometime this fall.

Location Suggestions:
- A coastline B&B such as the Sylvia Beach Hotel
- A mountain cabin
- A randomly selected Road Trip
- A retreat site such as a Trappist Abbey or Hollyhock

And don’t forget your school supplies!

Technique Tuesday: Take Stock

16th of August ~

Sometimes you need a specific technique to help you solve a problem.  Other times you need to step back and take inventory of your ‘problem-solving milieu‘.  Do you have the support and surroundings for optimal innovating?

Here is an model I developed to help you identify the areas where you are strong and where you need to get more innovation support.

You can download your own version here: InnovationBalanceInventory

Try it.  Your creative efforts deserve all the support they can get.

 

Inventory Your Creative Assets

3rd of September ~

Passionately creative people don’t let anything get in the way of honoring their muse.  I admire them.  I am not one of them.

Many of us tend toward more moderate lives.  We get distracted by the routines of daily living and another season elapses.  We may not always find time to honor our muse.

Your Creativity Benefits From These Enabling Assets:

Inspiration

Your creativity will be triggered by regular walks off the beaten path.  Make Artist Dates (field trips for yourself), read periodicals from outside your field, do things kids do, treat yourself to eye candy and ear candy.  Stimulate your senses.  Seek out Exemplars in your realm.
To what degree are you stimulating your imagination with inspiration?

Community and Cheerleaders

Creation–the act of making something new–requires risk.  By definition you are taking a chance and you need the support of champions as you venture forth.  Seek out a tribe–find others who are working in the same domain.  Ensure that you have a support system.
To what degree do you have support for your creative endeavors?


Environment

While it is possible to create in a grey cube without any natural daylight, it is not ideal.  You will feel happier and be more productive in a pleasing and well-equipped space.
To what degree do you feel inspired by, comfortable in your working space?  Do you have a ‘room of your own’?

Collaboration

Creative work benefits from others who can help you refine your ideas.  The creative process is stimulated by differing points of view.  Other minds can add to your ideas in ways that have not occurred to you.  {special note: I mean collaborators–not spontaneous critics and naysayers–avoid them as you would a poisonous, rash-producing plant}
To what degree do you have a brain trust to help you refine your creative work?

Passion

Doing original work requires stamina.  Loving your project, your media, your problem will sustain you through the grueling labor pains.
To what degree do you care about this creative work?

Physical Health

A healthy, happy host body is important for creative work.  Your productivity will be sub-par if your brain isn’t getting oxygen and good fuel to fire those chemical and electrical systems.
To what degree is your body your creative temple?

Self-Awareness

Each of us has peak times for original work.  Do you know how to work with your own creative rhythms?  Can you give your brain assignments and know that your brain will do its homework?  Every Creative Producer I’ve ever interviewed has techniques that enhance their work and help them avoid blocks.
To what degree do you understand your own creative process?

I encourage you to perform an inventory and identify one or two areas where you might honor your creative work more.  Really, you deserve it and the world wants to hear from you.  Download your own copy of the CreativeAssetsInventory here.

Creativity Spa

11th of January ~

Over the weekend I hosted the first Creativity Spa at  the John Palmer House.  Once again, I was touched by the power of a group to generate energy and inspiration for all the members.  From the first hour, when participants introduced themselves and their creative aspiration to the final hour when they declared a specific action they would take we all traveled an intriguing journey together.  The agenda included SoulCollage(TM) and peer coaching and, oh yes, yummy snacks and wine.

SoulCollage(TM) is a consistently effective tool for tapping your intuition and letting go of your logical, linear mind for a time.  Images are a mainline to the psyche.  Here are a few examples from my SoulCollage(tm) deck:


The cards are so versatile and provide a wonderful window to your creative self.

Thanks again to my beautiful Winter Spa participants.  If you’d like to join the Spring Creativity Spa watch this space for dates.

Rolling Dimes

30th of August ~

rolled coinsA friend and I talked years ago as we were preparing for another rigorous school session.  We had multiple papers to turn in and lots of reading to complete.  I asked her how she was doing and she said that she was sorting her coins and putting them in rolls for the bank.

I was doing equally vital work–cleaning out my junk drawer.  Anything to avoid the dread schoolwork.

Since then I have referred to such avoidance tactics as ‘rolling dimes’.

Although I could be finishing preparations for my client work this week in Chicago, I am instead wandering the internet…hopping from one link to the next.

Here’s my favorite site this evening: http://creativeeveryday.com/

And, as I am a coach for the creative process, I’m going to call this INCUBATION.

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