Theme Thursday - Creativity

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I have to thank my friend Quinn McDonald, Creativity Coach and more, for the idea of Theme Thursday she started at the Creativity Incubator to which I belong (see the link to it on Quinn's blog in the sidebar).

Creativity has been on my mind a lot this year, what it is, how it works, what it does for us, etc. So today I'm sharing links with you to some blog posts and websites I've discovered either thru Twitter or from blogs and references as I have found time to travel around the internet.

I'm going to reference Quinn's blog once again to show you another example of my creativity. I created a stole for her to wear when she does weddings - see some wedding pics here. Quinn is in the sunglasses and the stole is that long blue fabric with the colorful waves on it. It is all hand-dyed rayon and I had a blast creating this for her. Ok, enough about me and on to more stuff about creativity.

1. I found Ken on Twitter where he is known as @mildlycreative and I love visiting his blog, Mildly Creative, because he talks about some aspect of creativity on a regular basis. This link will take you to his post of July 28th titled 'Develop a Should-Free Lifestyle'. If you allow yourself to be creative, and especially if you don't, this is a highly recommended read. I think many of us get caught up in 'how art should be', how we 'should' do it, how it 'should' look. But I find that my most creative and free moments are when I let go of those 'shoulds' and simply do something, without worrying about how it 'should look', just letting it emerge. So in whatever way you choose to express your creativity, and acknowledge it, this post is worth your time.

2. I am one who 'knows' (this is that intuitive knowing) that the things I create, whether it is the poems I write, the quilts I create, or the jewelry I make, that those ideas come thru me in the still moments. This blog post on 'The Top Ten Reasons to Start Meditating Today' that I came across today as I was looking for more information on creativity, talks about the benefits of meditation - for our bodies, minds and creative selves (see #6 on the list). I know some people think it is some type of odd practice or have negative images about it, and that's too bad. I meditate sporadically and every time, I wonder, 'why don't I do this every day?'. It helps me sleep when I do it at night, I think because it quiets my mind, which seems to run constantly. So check this article out, and if so moved, find out some more about the many different ways there are to meditate. I think of creativity as a kind of 'moving meditation', much like my Tai Chi instructor describes that practice as a 'moving meditation' as you are focusing your energy and quieting your mind. Enjoy.

3. I've known for a while that creativity has healthy benefits, so when I stumbled upon this article by Kay Porterfield on 'How Creativity Heals' I thought it would be perfect to share with you.

4. Rick is another person I discovered on Twitter, he is known as @rickdibiasio and I now visit his blog, The Affluent Artist, regularly. I find his posts inspiring because they are very 'real life'. His post of July 29th titled 'True to Your Core Values' made me realize that I don't need to apologize to myself for having a 'day job'. Truly, I work for art supplies and classes I'm that enhance my skills and my technique base. His posts are encouraging, practical and invite you to examine the way that you think. Have fun there.

My belief: creativity is not something you 'get', it is something you become aware that you have and allow more of as you go thru your life. You can learn and practice many techniques that help you express it, but it is there, in you. Creativity is present every time you solve a problem, creativity is present in the the work you do, the way you choose your clothes. Creativity is present in many areas in your life and your expression of it does not have to 'measure up', the benefits are in the process.

Creative expression is helping manage the stress of a full time job, attending graduate school for a masters degree through Capella University (2 more classes to go after this quarter), as well as managing diabetes and the stress of it. Once I started grad school, I quickly discovered that I could choose to be the stressed out student who has no fun and higher blood pressure, or the smarter student who nurtures her soul through hands-on creative adventures. Even if I only spend 15 minutes on something, my soul is taken care of during that 15 minutes and my to-do lists are easier to get through on a daily basis.

That's it folks. Comments are welcome and appreciated. I would love to hear your thoughts on any of this. Thanks so much for visiting.