Going to watercolors, writing a novel or launching a culinary blog… We have dreamed of it for ages, without ever daring to do so. Too bad, because letting our creativity express itself could illuminate our daily lives.
How about we go for it?
A feeling of ecstasy!
Before we get started, let’s re-point the i’s of creativity: creativity does not necessarily require artistic talent. In other words, you don’t have to have Picasso’s brushstrokes to call yourself “creative”. You can do this by customizing Grandma’s pot-au-feu recipe (so far unchangeable), or by turning the Monday meeting (soporific) into a much more motivating “slunch of ideas”.
In short, by improving our daily life and that of others. It is above all a question of calling on our imagination to invent something new, and this in no way. any area of life. Create a world of your own in a society marked by mimicry and repetition, being able to say “I did it!”, adds extra identity.
The result is a tremendous feeling of autonomy and recognition, but not only that. Creating helps us regulate our moods. Numerous studies have shown this, including one carried out on great writers. During the creative process, these entered an ataraxic phase that gave them the impression of skimming over their writings. What we call “flow”, a feeling of ecstasy, of great clarity, of serenity, where one is focused on the present.
Lift the brakes on creativity!
We all have access to creativity, but for some, it is more difficult to reveal. Because we have, for example, a natural tendency to stand still or perfectionism, often out of a lack of self-confidence. We are afraid of failing, of being judged or both. However, creation is closely linked to change… and to the risk-taking that goes with it.
Being inventive therefore means accepting to shake up your habits, even if it means making mistakes. Our education also has its role to play. If as a child, we were told “that’s not the way to do it” every time we drew, it can be hard to let go today.
This is the whole difference between the creative and the normative. On the one hand we have the right brain, rational, and on the other the left, inventive. The latter does exist, but for it to work, it is still necessary to leave it free …
Train our mind to be free!
If creativity is not innate, it has to be worked on. We can start by observing, listening and showing curiosity. Feeding on everything around us, and trying to activate the cognitive mechanisms of associations. In short: bring together two things that have no place to be, and which nevertheless become “fruitful”.
Like Gutenberg, who created the printing press by bringing together the idea of Chinese parchments … and that of winegrowers’ presses! To be creative, therefore, is to accept to think differently, and to question oneself. Keep asking yourself how to do it “differently”.
To do this, you have to think outside the box … and above all fear of judgment! How? ‘Or’ What ? By stopping putting the pressure on yourself, and the bar too high. Before trying to make something “beautiful”, we will therefore try to “do” quite simply.
Reference: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/creativity-happiness-psychology_n_58419e0ce4b0c68e0480689a
Photo by Valeriia Miller from Pexels
