February 5, 2010

Today's tip is brought to you from a website called Creativity Portal and is an article by creativity coach Dan Goodwin

Nourishing Now Wows
By Dan Goodwin
As creative artists we often think wistfully of how an idyllic creative life might be, without the problems we perceive as being present today. We say to ourselves: “One day, when I have (the time / enough ideas / the energy...) I will (write my book / return to painting / learn piano / etc).” By placing such idealistic conditions on our creative lives, in effect we drastically reduce the chance of us ever creating with what we have NOW.
This Creativity Cookie is called Nourishing Now Wows and will help you focus on putting to use all the skills and resources you have available to you right NOW, right here today, instead of putting creating off until a tomorrow that never seems to arrive.
Little Nibble:
The first step here is accepting that conditions will never be perfect for you to create. Write a list of all the things you think you need to have in place, and how they each need to be, for you to be as creative as you can be. Include every last detail you can think of, from having the right equipment, having time, having the right ideas to develop, having the sun shine 24 hours a day...
List everything you think of when you say “I’d be more creative if only I had _______________.”
Then, do the same for everything you have now that you feel stops you creating at your best. Write “I’d be more creative if only I didn’t have _______________.”
Big Bite:
You’ll now see from your two lists all that you perceive as limiting your creativity. Ask yourself honestly, how realistic is it that all of these conditions will EVER be perfectly in place for you to create?
The answer is they won’t.
When you see this truth, it actually gives you great liberation. You realise that because you’ve been waiting for an ideal set of circumstances that won’t ever come to you — or to ANY of us who create — you are now free to do the best you can with what you have. And what you have is a whole lot more than you give yourself credit for.
Focusing on all the shortcomings and “if onlys” is a sure way of overlooking all your creative abilities and the resources available to you right now. So it’s time to readjust that lens.
Write another list, this time beginning each line with: “I can start creating today because _______________.”
Your answers might be things like “I have enough materials”, “I’ve got a good idea I’ve been wanting to develop for a few months”, and “I enjoy creating so much.” List everything you can think of and you’ll soon begin to realise that the reasons why you CAN get creating right here and now are overwhelming.
You know the next step. Motivated by your new realisations, set a little time aside and go create!