(Me and a black kite getting to know each other on the weekend.  Apparently he started sunbathing on my arm and it took his handler about five minutes to get him back, because he was just so comfortable there). 

I had a chat with a mate today and she asked me, “So, what do you call yourself, an artist, a crafter, an author, a blogger?”. And I responded after a little thought. “No I really just call myself a ‘creative”.

I truly believe that being a  ‘creative’ or a creative thinker is a mindset. It’s a way of being, a way of living. For me it is a way of thinking about possibilities. It’s thinking into the future and letting go of the past. It’s seeing a challenge and brainstorming 20 different ways to make that challenge work for you. It’s about finding an opportunity and running with it. It’s about sitting around with friends and choosing topics of conversation which are interesting, idea-filled, lively, animated and energising.

When you become a ‘creative’ you can take your creativity and put it into anything you like. For me,I have put my creativity into taking photos, designing clothing patterns, writing a blog, writing books, and using my hands to make lots and lots of different things. In the future, I may well write some music, finish editing a play I’ve written, write a novel and design a jewellery range. 

For everyone their creativity can be used in different ways.  One person may use their creativity thinking to improve their marriage, while another may use theirs to start a new business, or help solve a world crisis. 

Most of all, I think creative thinking is a way to make yourself happier. Ideas are so much more interesting than other sorts of thoughts. Ideas possess the most energy and forward motion of any thought processes. I think there is a massive link between happiness and being a creative thinker, who can rely on a supple mind with fluid thought processes and avoids black and white rigid thoughts with no movement.

Here are my top ideas on how to become a ‘creative’ and be happier:

• Brainstorm your challenges, don’t worry about them.  When you have a challenge in life, whether it is a severe illness or a financial crisis, brainstorm.  Take a huge piece of paper and a box of coloured crayons or markers and put on a stopwatch for 20 minutes (as you get better at it you might like to do it for 30 minutes).   In this twenty minutes, you have to scribble down any ideas that come to your head.  You are not allowed to judge them or not write them down.  Once you have finished you’ll find that you will have a few great ideas to pursue into the next phase.

 

• Give each great idea 20 minutes.  Following from your brainstorming, if you have one or two great ideas give each one twenty minutes.  You can do this in different sessions so that you don’t give yourself ‘brain overload’.  Brainstorm the idea as you have done before.  Then leave it for 24 hours to allow your brain to work its magic and start to make solutions.  After 24 hours, come back to the page and see if you will either make it a working project, put it aside as a future possibility or bin it.  Then either start on this or start working on another idea.  You can use this method to sort out solutions to a housing problem, solutions to a bad relationship or working out how to afford a year in France (yay bring it on!).

 

• Make a ‘Future Possibilities’ folder in your filing system.  Fill this file with your great ideas, whether it be a new invention, a business venture or a book idea.  This gives your inner creative genius, a space to work and encouragement to continue to work (this little genius needs as much encouragement as possible).

 

• Turn problems on their heads.  I can only give you this idea with an example.  A problem could be, how do I make my house repayments?  If you turn this on its head, you now ask a new question, how can I make my house pay for itself?  The answers could be many and varied.  You could move out and rent a smaller place and have someone else pay it for you for a while, you could rent out a room or take in a boarder.  You could look into subdividing your block, selling off the back half and paying your whole mortgage off.  You could start a daycare in your house and look after small children.   The ideas are endless but they are so fun to think about.  Another one, on a more personal level, could be, ‘how do I make my child happier?’.  You could turn this on its head and say ‘how can my child make me happier’.  The solutions could be hugging my child more often could make me happier, playing with him in the park each afternoon could make me happier, cleaning his room with him could help.  Now see if that doesn’t help improve your child’s happiness as well.   Honestly, I love this method.  It can get quite hilarious at times & it can throw up the most random, creative, incredible ideas which can then turn themselves into great possibilities.

 

• Choose your friends wisely.  Hang out with ideas people.  Keep company with people who are positive, upbeat and you can see them sorting through their lives bravely and creatively.  You will notice these people’s input into your life will help you enormously.  And talk about possibilities and ideas with people.  When discussing the world’s crises, don’t wallow in the enormity of it all, throw up possibilities to ponder, talk about and laugh at.  You never know, you may help!  You have my permission to do a cull of the friends in you life who pull you down.  If a girlfriend talks only about crises and things which are wrong while offering no verbal solutions to her only problems, seriously limit your time with that person.  I always say this to my ten-year-old ‘hang out with the people at school who are fun, happy, kind, playing sport, doing things, not the ones sitting around gossipping or complaining about teachers or whatever.’  I think it’s a great thing to learn from a young age.

When I talk about creatives, I am not talking about artists only.  Some artists are not creative thinkers in their own lives and some accountants I know are the most creative thinkers I have met (LOL, not mine).  It is possible to become a creative right now and develop these and other creative skills that will help you keep a positive outlook and bounce back buoyantly from life’s challenges!

Mia

xxx

Related posts:

1. How to Become a Creative (Part Two) This is th
2. When life gives you lemons……. Was thinki
3. Tuesday’s Thrift Shopping – Inspiration It is fabu
4. Handmade in Broome Broome see
5. 2010 Easter Links.. Easter alr

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 at 12:58 am and is filed under Chatter, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.