As a creative freedom facilitator, I’ve heard people say to me, “Oh, I’m not creative.” They don’t believe they have creativity or any access to the ability to create. They seemed resigned to that idea, and perhaps have even made peace with it. “I’m not creative,” “I can’t think of things.” “I’m no good at creative stuff.”
Dear ones, I am here to tell you that I disagree! You are creative. Everyone is creative. Creativity is a human characteristic; we all have it; and we can tap into it easily and freely.
Here, I’ll show you:
- Think of a word. Any word. Write it down three times.
- Now think of a different word. Any word. Doesn’t have to be related to the first word, doesn’t matter. Write it down one time. Now you should have a total of four words.
- Read the four words out loud, slowly and seriously.
- Congratulations, you are now a poet.
I’m serious! Just by noticing the words that came into your head (or maybe they were prompted by things you saw around you), you made a poem.
My poem:
Blog
Blog
Blog
String
Imagine it read aloud, slowly and seriously. Oooh, so deep and meaningful! Now if I wanted I could follow that poem and explore/create even more. I’ll try it now. He’s what comes out as I follow the poem:
Blog, string. Blog, string. A thread, a through line. Blogging a through line. A line that pierces through. My blog is a laser that pierces the internet. Piercing the internet. Whoops! I’ve popped the internet. Sorry guys. What’ll we do now? Now that the internet is popped and lying in a pool around our feet? Anyone up for pizza?
So, from those random words I ended up with a silly visual of a popped internet and a playful invitation to pizza. I started with the first word I noticed come time mind – blog, which is what I’m doing now. The next word came from noticing a piece of string in front of me on the desk. Then I just followed the thoughts, noticing what came to mind at each step and writing that down.
Notice, Name, and Follow
Creativity is not some big skill that only some people have. It is the capacity we all have to notice, name, and follow – one step at a time.
- Noticing what is happening around us, what is happening inside us, or what comes through our minds.
- Naming what we notice, putting it to words.
- Following that word/thought/image/whatever, which just means focusing on it and then noticing what comes to mind next.
There is lots more I enjoy saying about creativity, but for now this is the crux of it. Creativity is simply noticing, naming, and following.
This is what we play with in my creative freedom workshops. Try it out and lemme know what you discover! Also, check out my blog about Creative Freedom and the Leap of Faith.
