Cultivating Creativity - Part II

We live in a noisy world. There is the radio, the TV, the mowers and blowers, planes passing overhead, the dog down the street, cars whizzing by, the car alarms that seem to always be going off, the beeping of a truck as it backs up. The noise is not only outside of us...there are also noises in our heads. "I need to mail this letter, go to the store, pick up the kids, and did I remember to pay all the bills? What will I make for dinner, and when was that next doctor's appointment?" The thoughts race through our minds at lightning speed. How can creativity be cultivated in such cacophony? It can't. Creativity needs calm and silence to exist. Your first job, if you are to be creative, is to calm the noise. I will offer three ways to do that.

The first is as old as the first glimmer of religion in the history of man. It is called by many: Meditation. In order to start, you must find twenty minutes of time when no one bothers you and find a place that is quiet to outside noises. A good time is early in the morning before the phone begins to ring, maybe even before the alarm clock goes off. A soft cushion in a small space is the only prop needed. Meditation at its simplest is merely sitting quietly, usually with eyes closed, and paying attention to your breath. It sounds simple but is difficult to accomplish at first. The noise that runs through your head will continue to break in to the peace you are trying to establish. You will be tempted to think of things in the past or future. You need to recognize the thoughts as they appear and let them go and refocus on each breath as it goes in and out. Make your breathing slow and regular. With daily practice, you will become better at focusing and clearing your mind.

The second way to calm the noise is to write. This time the props needed are a spiral notebook and a pen. Again, you need about 20 minutes of quiet time to yourself. Your goal will to write three notebook pages a day. What to write? Whatever comes into your head. This time you can let the internal noise flow out of your head and onto the page. Do not worry about what you are writing...this is not the great American novel and you do not have to be a creative writer to do it. Do not reread what you have written. The goal is to free your creative self of all the flotsam and jetsam that fills your mind most of the time. You can complain about the clerk at the store who treated you badly, you can write about all the things you have to do today, you can worry about the financial issues that concern you, you can go on about the sorry state of the nation. Anything is OK to write in these three pages. This is a purging of the things that get in the way of your creativity.

The last way to create an island of calm in your life is to walk. A daily 20 minute brisk walk will work wonders in clearing the noisy chatter that fills your head. It is best to walk alone. You do not need a companion to fill the quiet with conversation. The one exception to walking alone would be a dog, if your dog is calm and will walk beside you and not pull or distract your focus. Walk, breathe in the cool air and notice the world around you as if all is at a distance. This daily walk should be the same route each time and should be at the same time of the day, every day.

Each of these calming techniques takes a mere twenty minutes of your day. You will find that the twenty minutes you lose will be gained in your increased focus and productivity during the rest of the day. You will reap the benefits in less than a month. The stage will be set for your adventure into a more creative and rewarding life. The path you take is the first baby step that you need to take to get started in a quest for creativity in any of the areas you want to pursue.

I am a creativity coach who helps people increase the creativity in their lives. If you would like to receive individual coaching, through the internet, by phone, or in person, contact me at triciastudio@mac.com. If you would like to see examples of my abstract and representational artwork, go to http://www.triciastudio.com/

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Cultivating Creativity - Part III

Creating art is a solitary journey. Writers sit alone at their laptops, painters stand alone in front of their easels, musicians practice scales and rehearse compositions alone. Even actors, who by necessity must personally share their work with the public, spend time alone...learning their lines, practicing their movements, and thinking about the meaning of the words they speak. My last article emphasized the need for silence and alone time to encourage creativity, but there is also a need for contact with others who have a desire to grow their creativity. The development of a creative community to support your efforts is as essential to the creative process as the need for isolation. We are social animals and need to associate with other like-minded individuals to bounce ideas and get feedback.

Where does one find this community? If you are new to the creative world, the easiest way to make a connection with other artists is to take a class. Adult education or community college classes are filled with people who aspire to learn and grow in a creative area. There are workshops and classes for writers, dancers, actors, painters, and musicians. You can find a class that fits your level of expertise or find a beginning class in any of these areas of artistic expression.

Art organizations at the local, state, and national levels are great places to learn about workshops, presentations, and showings. The Internet is a great source to find an organization in your area. Meetings are usually monthly and open the possibilities of introducing you to smaller groups that meet more often. My recommendation is to meet weekly with other artists to keep the momentum of creation going. I will give two examples from my own life of groups that are helpful.

One of the groups I have joined is a plein air painting group. The group is loosely organized, meeting at a prearranged location once a week to paint. All that is required to be a part of such a group is a willingness to go where the group decides and bring paints, canvas and a sack lunch. The alone time is honored, with each artist working independently in a chosen spot, and the camaraderie is accomplished in the after painting lunch and sharing of the work done. This is not meant to be a critique of the work. Each artist can informally show what he has done to supportive fellow artists. The joy and challenges of painting and being outdoors is shared by the group and gives the artists a boost to creativity for the rest of the week. Whether or not you paint outdoors the rest of the week does not matter. This experience can bring a freshness to the other work you do.

Another weekly group I belong to is a critique group. We meet at a local coffee place to talk about our work. The requirement for this group is to bring a current work in progress and be prepared to discuss it. I especially like this group because I am committed to working on something during the week in between meetings. It keeps me focused and on task so that I will have some progress to show at the meeting. While critiquing is essential to the artistic process, it is also the most difficult part of artistic work to deal with. For those doing the critiquing, it is far easier to come up with what is wrong with a painting than to emphasize what is good about it. One of the necessities of this type of group is for the members to be supportive and not overly critical. It is important to have an agreement among the members on how to approach the critiquing of the work.

I have friends who are writers and have joined writers' groups to share their work. I also have musician friends who meet weekly with other musicians to "jam". Weekly contact with fellow artists is essential to keeping your creativity alive and growing. These groups are different from classes in that they are informal and peer oriented. They are intended to encourage the process of the creative act not necessarily teach new skills. Creativity is like breathing-we do the process ourselves. However, we can use the support of others to develop our strength to do the work.

I am a creativity coach who helps artists realize their creative directions. If you are interested in a coaching relationship, contact me at triciastudio@mac.com. If you would like to see examples of my abstract and representational artwork, go to http://www.triciastudio.com/

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