Going Deep With Your Creativity – How To Find Why You REALLY Create

Sometimes it’s good to create freely and aimlessly, creating just for the love and experience of creating, and without any specific end goal in mind.

Think of this as the equivalent of a going for a long walk in the country with a treasured friend on a lovely summer day, starting at a place of beauty and wandering out, exploring further, going wherever your curiosity takes you.

Other times we create with a more specific purpose and vision in mind.

Maybe we want to write a novel about our experiences of growing up in Africa, or we wish to write a collection of musical pieces for a short film a fellow artist has asked us to contribute to.

Creating in this way is more like a brisk hike up a mountain, from a specific starting point to a specific summit.

We know where we want to be, we know which direction we need to head in, and off we go, determined and focused.

Both of these different types of creating have their own value.

As creative people, over our creative lifetimes, we’ll have a number of different projects that cover both of these types of project, and all the points in between.

But if we go a little deeper we find that actually the motivation and purpose behind the gentle amble in the country is as strong and vital as that behind our more focused mountain hike.

In fact, there is a powerful driving force behind EVERYTHING we create.

By finding what it is, and realising how important and valuable it is to us, we’re able to create more freely, more deeply and more often.

So how do we find this reason behind our creativity? Why DO we create what we create?

We need to go a little deeper and look at the values behind the creativity. What personal values of yours does this way of creating nourish and fulfil?

To find the deepest values behind your creative work, follow these simple steps:

1. Choose a creative project you’re thinking of starting. Ask yourself the question: “What will creating in this way give me?”. Answer as fully as you can.

2. Take one of these new statements, and ask “What will THAT give me?”.

3. Repeat step 2 until you’ve reached the deepest value level.

4. Return to another of your statements from step 1 and continue the steps through to find your deepest value level for this part.

Here’s an example to show how this can work:

Example A: You’re a writer and decide to write freely for an hour on the topic of food.

Q. What does writing freely on this subject give you?

A. It gives me a chance to explore the subject of food which I’m very passionate about. Normally I write fictional stories so this is a way of exploring a different way of writing. Also I have no set outcome, no end product I’m aiming for so that’s quite freeing.

Q. “Exploring a different way of writing” – what does THAT give you?

A. It gives me freedom, it’s liberating. It helps me find new parts of my creative self, new angles, new abilities.

Q. “Finding new parts of my creative self” – what does THAT give you?

A. It gives me the sense I’m growing and learning as an artist and a person.

Q. “Growing and learning as an artist and a person” – what does THAT give you?

A. It makes me feel happy and that I’m making use of the creative gifts I’ve been given.

Very quickly we can uncover some of the deeper values behind the original creative project. Let’s look at a different example:

Example B: You’re a musical composer and are asked to create a soundtrack for the new short film of a film-maker friend.

Q. What does composing this soundtrack give you?

A. I love the work of my film-maker friend so it’s great to be asked to contribute. He’s always been very supportive of my work so it enables me to give back as well as challenge myself creatively.

Q. “It enables me to give back” – what does THAT give you?

A. It makes me feel like I’m paying back the time and energy he’s given me. It helps me feel I’m connecting with other artists too, and I’m part of a wider artistic community.

Q. “Connecting with other artists” – what does THAT give you?

A. A feeling that I’m making a difference and contributing. I’m not just one person creating alone.

Q. “A feeling that I’m making a difference and contributing” – what does THAT give you?

A. A feeling of happiness and a sense of worth. Knowing my creative work and my life is worthwhile. That I’m making use of my creativity not just for myself, but for the good of others too.

Again we see the deeper values, and the deeper motivation behind why we create what we create.

Once we understand the deeper value behind why we create, we’re able to create more freely and with more clarity, purpose and energy.

Try this simple “Deeper Value” process for a project you’ve been thinking of, and work through each statement you come up with to the level of the deepest value.

Do this for a number of different projects and you’ll start to notice the common threads, the collection of values that are fundamental to you and your creativity.

:: Share Your Experience ::

Try this process for yourself. What have you found are the deepest values behind why YOU create?

How can you ensure that everything you create stems from these powerful deepest level values?

Click the comments link below to share your comments and experiences.