Tapping Creativity

It has been written that to tap into your creativity, you should make a list of 100 things you'd like to do - a "dream list" if you will. I did that a few years back and just came across it. Finding the list made me realize that I have, in some form, been working on a few of the items. A couple of things from my list:

• Go rock climbing - I climbed a 50 ft rock wall this past summer in Michigan!
• Write a book - I haven't started my book but I am writing this blog.
• Own a roller rink - (I wrote that because I love to skate) I don't own it, but I sure spend a lot of time there these days with Roller Derby.

So, have I opened the door to my creativity with these activities? Maybe. Do you have those days when it feels like whatever creative spark you might have had has been extinguished? I know I do as most of the time I don't feel very creative. It took me a while to realize that you don’t have to be an artist, musician, or writer to benefit from unleashing your creativity. We all tap into our creative passion differently. For some, setting the table is an art form. For others, it’s playing the guitar, cooking, drawing, scrapbooking, writing, making pottery, aromatherapy mixing, candle-making, painting, wood-working, photography, jewelry-making, knitting, or flower-arranging.

Some tips to tap into your creative self:

• Change your venue - find some new scenery and open up those blocked pathways.
• Engage in childlike play - try hopscotch, Twister, scribbling on the sidewalk with chalk, jumping on a pogo stick, or swishing your hips with a hula hoop. You never know what ideas will come bubbling up.
• Do something wacky - spend the day "turning left" and see where you end up!
• Be in nature - there’s something about nature that can make you feel part of something much bigger. That sense of wonder may just stir things up.
• Send your inner critic for a time out - give yourself some love instead. Get a massage, paint your toenails, or take a long soak in a warm bath.
• Shake your booty - movement opens things up and brings a fire into your belly and into your creative life. Go dancing, take a yoga class, climb rocks, hike, stand on your head, or just wiggle around your living room.
• Try something new - whatever it is you'd like to try, quit talking about it and just do it!
• Create a ritual - invoke your muses in a ritualistic way that feels right to you.
• Take a nap - a nap may be just the thing to rejuvenate and inspire you.
• Pay attention to everyday magic - you don’t necessarily have to change your environment or your circumstances to experience life with fresh senses. Magic is everywhere, and where there is magic, there is creative flow.

Those who balance their right brain creativity with their practical, analytical left brain live life more fully, more healthfully, more vitally, and more successfully. Who doesn’t want that?