Do you often feel foggy, stuck and find it tough to make decisions?
I do at times.
In fact, the last week or so I’ve found that clarity around my business direction has eluded me!
Determined to find clarity I’ve decided to create space for play and fun and really step up my creativity.
I find that I spend so much time sitting at my computer that it’s easy for me to feel blocked creatively.
But let me ask you this, “How important to you is exploring and nurturing your creativity?”
When we set aside dedicated time to explore our creativity we think differently, we work through challenges and we open ourselves up to release the energy blocks inside.
Enjoying a creative pursuit, whether it’s scribbling in your diary or taking a ceramics class, helps us to move out of our head and into our heart.
Reconnecting with our ‘inner creative’ also helps us to expand our thinking, trigger periods of inspiration and helps with idea generation. Connecting with our creativity helps to support us to gain clarity around our direction and what’s truly important.
I can already hear you saying, ‘Ainslie, I’m not a writer!” But the truth is, you don’t have to be a writer to benefit from this practice.
One of the most powerful creative habits you can perform is to write and get all your thoughts, feelings and emotions down on paper.
In my post about how to journal I talked about ‘Morning Pages’ and how taking time out to write, free flow style, is transformational.
You definitely don’t have to write a masterpiece and it doesn’t need to make any sense! It’s for your eyes only.
The purpose is to clear out the cobwebs, spring clean your mind and open yourself up to gain clarity.
In addition to Morning Pages, I’m also experimenting with writing short stories – just a paragraph or two long.
The purpose of this exercise is for me to think differently (rather than being in blogging, copywriting mode) and to open myself up to new possibilities.
I find it enjoyable and a flurry of new ideas related to all aspects of my life come flowing in.
I’ll admit I was quite skeptical when I first saw the adult colouring book craze. But my sister gifted me a beautiful colouring book for my birthday and now I’m a ‘colouring convert!’
I find setting aside time, whether it’s 10 minutes or an hour whilst I watch TV in the evening, helps me to unwind and be in a more playful state of mind.
It’s interesting to see what colours and patterns you’re drawn to and how this is linked to your mood.
To me colouring is a somewhat lazy way to explore my creativity as there’s no fuss, no mess and I don’t need to attend a class to do it! (Which is fine by me!).
If you’d like to explore your creativity and gain clarity through colouring, make sure you read to the bottom and enter my ‘Starting With Santa’ Giveaway where you could WIN a 111:Manadala Magick Coloring Book valued at $22 AUD from The Fifth Element Life!
Image from The Fifth Element Life
Over the last year I’ve been exploring my photography skills and curating my photos for + The Week in Pictures + section on my blog.
Don’t get me wrong, I love doing this, but lately it’s felt more like work. I’m constantly thinking, “how will this image re-size for the blog,” “are there enough shots of people,” etc etc.
After I had a coaching session with Claire Baker (yes, coaches have coaches!) I’ve decided to shoot photos for fun, and you can too!
Explore somewhere new each week and pull out your camera or phone.
Take photos of things that capture your imagination – kids laughing, a memory you want to keep, a texture you love, a colour combination that excites you, a funny sign (my husband’s favourite pastime in Asia), a beautiful landscape, your latte art, the sun setting on the horizon.
Open yourself up and see your world through a creative (camera) lens and have fun with it!
A very simple way to explore your creativity is to focus on your appearance.
I know how easy it is to fall into a rut wardrobe wise, but how you dress each day is an expression of your creativity.
Lately I’ve been making an effort to mix up my outfit choices and dig deeper into my accessories drawer (ok, so I actually have multiple drawers full of jewellery, scarves, hats etc!).
I’ve also been experimenting with makeup (which actually means wearing lipstick instead of lip gloss!) and trying to do different things with my hair (i.e. NOT pull it back into a high ponytail).
This may sound trivial, but being purposeful with my appearance surprisingly brings me a lot of enjoyment and has helped me re-discover my creativity.
I’m starting to form an addiction. I’m becoming a Ted Talk Addict.
When ever I need a shot of inspiration, a pick me up and to clear my head, I randomly choose a TedX talk to watch.
Ted Talks provide you with intimate insight into the minds of some incredibly amazing leaders from all walks of life.
Some of my favourite Ted talks include Brene Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Amy Cuddy just to name a few!
I’ve definitely found that watching random Ted Talks (things I wouldn’t normally be drawn to), has helped to expand my thinking and enliven my curiosity about the world around me.
++ Scroll through Pinterest and find new recipes to try this week – be inspired by the amazing and mouth watering food photography. Maybe even try to replicate how the meals are presented!
++ Have a dance party in your lounge room for 5 minutes and go wild with your dance moves. I have Justin Beiber’s new songs on high rotation at the moment (OMG, did I just admit that?).
++ Collect inspiring quotes that lift you up and get you thinking. You could share them on social media (create your own on Canva) or just keep them written in your journal.
++ Create a vision board of your dream life and go crazy cutting and pasting or madly ‘pin’ on Pinterest!
++ Listen to interesting podcasts when you’re in the car, on public transport, at the gym, washing up…..I’ve always loved Monocle Radio and I’m also digging The Brave Exchange and The Accidental Creative.
++ Write a letter or send a card regularly to someone you love. I’ve really enjoyed doing this since living in Hong Kong.
++ Join an art class and create your own masterpiece….and discover life lessons along the way.
++ Curate a new floral arrangement for your home or office and feel inspired every time you look at it/smell it.
++ Read the game-changing book ‘Big Magic’ (read the review here) and discover how you can live a creative life (even if you think you’re not creative!).
++ Learn a new language online by practicing for 10 minutes a day….I can now count to 10 in Cantonese, woohoo!
I hope you’ve found this post helpful in terms of how creativity can help you gain clarity?
And now you definitely can’t use the excuse, “I have no idea how to explore my creativity!”
I’m so in love with my Fifth Element Life Mandala Colouring Book so I’m super excited to be giving one away to a lucky reader!
This digital colouring book valued at $22 AUD includes a beginners guide to mandala magick and 111 unique mandala stencils to colour yourself to gain more clarity, creativity and consciousness.
How perfect does that sound!?
This giveaway is only open to my ‘Great Mail’ subscribers. So if you’re not on my email list just enter your details in the ‘Love This Post’ box below this blog post.
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is join my mailing list and share in the comments below what creative habit would you like to explore and why. Simple!
Entries close Tuesday 8th December, 2015 and WINNERS will be contacted by email and shared on social media.
With lots of creative love,
