Creative Freedom - The Benefits Of Creating Just For The Joy Of Creating

Whatever we enjoy as creative projects, sometimes there's nothing like the thrill of simply creating for the joy of creating.

The excitement of the unknown possibilities, the feeling of fear mixed with awe, the spontaneous free flow of ideas, words, images or sounds...

Often, the barriers that appear when we go to create – both externally and in our minds – can be traced back to what we EXPECT to produce.

It’s deeply engrained in many of us that unless we have some amazing “end product” after a period of creating - something real and tangible to show for all our efforts - then somehow that time has been wasted.

We rarely allow ourselves (or others) time to just create for the pleasure of creating.

If I were to say you could have a whole day off from all commitments – 8 hours just to create whatever and however you wanted – what would your first reaction be?

Would it something like: “Fantastic, that gives me loads of time to experiment with some new painting techniques I’ve been longing to try out. I can really have fun with them without worrying about having to pack up half way through.”

Or would it more like: “A whole day? 8 hours!? Oh dear that’s a lot of time. I should be able to produce loads of stuff in that time. But what if I can’t? What if I get stuck or run out of ideas, or don’t have time to finish? If I don’t create something really significant it’ll be such a waste of time...”

If you’re more likely to reply like in the second example (as most of us probably would!), here’s a way to start to overcome that.

Decide for yourself to put aside an hour or so to commit to creating purely for the pleasure of it.

Choose a media or format that you've always wanted to try but never had the courage to. Or something you loved when you were a child but haven't returned to in years, maybe decades.

Don't have any expectations of yourself, or aim to complete a piece of work within the time period you've set aside.

The aim is to simply enjoy the experience of creating, not create a final "product".

Whether it's finger painting, writing spontaneous prose, playing piano, tap dancing, carving wood or anything else, just begin, experiment, flow where it takes you. Enjoy the child-like sense of discovery, your capability to express your feelings and ideas, and the deep human need we all have to simply create...

Take the next step to increase your creativity today, by getting your free copy of the powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com

From Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin