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.

Creativity, Procrastination And The Deadly IBROW Affliction

We all experience forms of minor procrastination every day of our creative lives.

For example, we avoid getting into to our creative projects by “just” going to a make a drink or re-organising our work space, or making sure our pencils are sharpened and our pens are arranged perfectly in colour order.

Though they’re distracting activities, with little real meaningful benefit, they usually last only a few minutes, then we get on with what we really want to be doing: creating.

Often though, a far more damaging and dangerous form of procrastination affects us.

It’s SO cunning that we don’t even know it’s there much of the time. It resonates on a sub-conscious level, gently convincing us that its truth and reality is the only way forward.

It’s called the IBROW affliction.

Nope, nothing to do with those twin fuzzy things just above our eyes.

IBROW stands for “I’ll Be Ready Only When”.

It’s an affliction that hits us not with a fierce, sudden and violent blow, but a slow, stealth-like continuous presence that’s barely detectable.

It doesn’t stop us creating by appearing out of nowhere and instantly snatching all our ideas and motivation.

Instead, it’s always there beneath the surface, slowly smouldering, steadily convincing us that OF COURSE we can create the things we want to create, but not quite yet because the conditions aren’t right.

Why is it so destructive? Because it never disappears.

Like an intelligent highly evolved virus, just when we think we have killed it off it re-emerges even more deadly than before.

For example, you might be a painter.

You have a spare room at the back of your house that you’re planning to convert into a painting studio.

When it’s finished it’ll be wonderful, you’ll be in there from dawn until dusk painting to your heart’s content. You can’t wait for the day it’s finished.

“But can’t you start painting anyway before the studio is ready?” someone asks you.

“No, I’ll be ready only when the studio’s finished. Then everything will be in place and I’ll paint as much as I want”, comes your reply.

Then one day, the studio is finished. All beautifully decorated, and with those new skylight windows letting natural light flood in and bounce around the freshly painted walls.

So, obviously, you race into your new studio and start painting. Don’t you?

“Oh I can’t yet. I’ll be ready only when my new easel has arrived.” Oh, OK.

So the new easel arrives. NOW you rush into your studio and get to work? Er, no.

“I’ve realised the sun actually is too bright in here so I’m getting some blinds fitted to those skylights. I’ll be ready to paint only when they’re in place.”

By the time the blinds are fitted, it’s coming into the dark days of winter. Everything now is perfectly set up in your studio. Isn’t it?

“Yeh it’s fantastic, I can’t wait to get in there and start painting again. I’ll be ready only when the evenings start to get lighter again in the spring though, I can’t paint during the winter…”

Hmm… Can you see the evolving pattern?

Each time the IBROW affliction convinces you that you’ll be ready WHEN a certain set of conditions are met.

And because it sells you this promise that one day soon these conditions WILL be all perfectly in place, you happily accept it and wait patiently.

But then just when you’re getting close, the IBROW affliction kicks in with a new set of circumstances, a new set of conditions that must be met before you’re ready.

And so the cycle repeats itself, becoming more devious each time.

So what’s the cure to this deadly IBROW affliction?

Quite simple really. Grab the creative tools and ideas you have and get out there and create!

There will ALWAYS be some condition or other that isn’t perfect to create under, so just get creating anyway.

The more we learn to create everyday, despite the inevitable pressures and unpredictable twists and turns of daily life, the easier it becomes for us to create.

Instead of forever waiting for the perfect first day of Spring, we get to work creating, come rain, snow or storm, right here right now, in the sweltering heights of summer and the freezing depths of midwinter... It’s the only way.

So, don’t let the deadly IBROW virus take over YOUR creative life. Start preventative measures today and get creating!

:: Share Your Experience ::

What examples of the IBROW affliction can you think of in your life, past and present?

How are you going to learn to recognise it before it does too much damage?

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

Reasons To Be Thankful

It's easy to caught up negative events and mindsets and lose perspective on our lives, and we all do it to different degrees.

Whatever is happening in our lives at the time, if we're willing to look, we all have many positive areas to focus on, and reasons to be grateful.

Last year, 2006, was a big year for me, and I had a lot of losses, changes and upheaval in my personal life.

Life has started to settle again and I've come out stronger, wiser and ultimately happier. So I regularly count my blessings.

Here's my own top 5 right now:

1. Myself. I'm not trying to sound arrogant or egotistical. I just mean I'm thankful for the person I've become, the talents I have, and being open to continuing to evolve.

2. My best friend Jane. Jane's been a big part of my life for a decade and is the most important person I've ever met.

3. My friends. The people I hang out with, laugh with, share with, go out and have stupid fun with, stay in and have deep and meaningful chats with...

4. My family. Both my blood family and those that I consider family. The people I come from and can always go back to.

5. My Salsa Partner. Er, also Jane. We've only recently discovered salsa and it's quickly become a major passion for both of us. Having a talented partner to practice with is a great privilege and so much fun.

What are your top 5 blessings in your life right now?

I'd love to hear you share your top 5 reasons to be thankful, just click on the comments link below:

Creative Self Image: Is Your Outdated Creative Self Image Choking The Life Out Of Your Creativity?

We all have a self-image, a picture or collection of pictures in our heads about how we think we are and how we think we appear to the outside world.

Speaking personally for a moment, I’ve met a number of new people in the last couple of months, and many of them have told me how I’m confident and capable.

I’m delighted and grateful about the compliments of course, but a little voice deep inside still says:

“Confident? Me? Come on, I’m just a shy and scared little boy!”

The mostly positive self image I have of myself still has a few fragments of an old and outdated self image that occasionally reappears.

Maybe I DID used to be a shy and scared little boy. Or maybe I never was. But the reality is, to the outside world now, I’m appearing with some positive and valued attributes that people are attracted to and responding to.

It’s a bit like one of those criminal identikit pictures you see in old crime shows.

The victim goes to the police and scans through hundreds of sets of eyes, ears, noses, mouths, dodgy haircuts and other facial features until they’ve fitted together the best picture of the person they saw committing the crime.

So how does this apply to your creative life?

What does your creative identikit picture of yourself look like?

We’re not talking about physical features here. Let’s look deeper than that.

How do you present your creative self to the world? How do you exist and interact in the world as a creative person?

If you picked 5 words that described your creative identikit - how you see yourself as an artistic creative person right now – what would they be?

Adventurous? Experimental? Productive? Imaginative? Confident?

Or would they more likely be:

Fearful. Inconsistent. Stuck. Fraudulent. Inadequate.

What 5 words would you LOVE to accurately describe how you are as a creative person?

While you ponder that question, let’s have a little reality check here.

And the reality is that you’re probably actually far closer to the 5 words you’d love to accurately describe you than the first set of 5 words you came up with.

Often, we find we’re carrying around with us an old, tired, outdated self-image of ourselves that, even if it was accurate many years ago (and even then it’s likely it was negatively biased), it’s a long way from the truth of the person we are now.

What parts of your outdated creative self-image are causing you unnecessary pain, and choking your creativity?

Identifying the parts of your creative identikit picture that are inaccurate and outdated is the first step to setting yourself free from them.

The second step is replacing them with new, shiny bright positive and accurate ones.

So think about the positive attributes you have as a creative person.

What positive creative traits and strengths do people mention to you and compliment you on? Those kind of comments that you brush off with “oh that’s nothing special” and “yeh, I suppose, but anyone could have done that”?

The evidence is there that you have plenty of positive creative strengths.

It’s time now, for the sake of your creativity, to throw away that old outdated creative identikit image and replace with one that’s more truthful, more accurate and a more positive reflection of the wonderfully capable and creative person you are today.

:: Share Your Experience ::

What does your creative identikit of yourself look like?

In what ways is it now outdated, inaccurate and holding you back creatively?

What's your new, accurate, positive creative identikit image going to be, from today onwards?

Share your comments and experiences by just clicking on the comments link below.