6 Ways to Tap Into Your Creativity
This blog is for all the people who claim they aren’t creative. People who don’t believe they have an artistic way about them, and have no clue what creativity would look like in their life. I had the opportunity to sit down with Ivy Newport, an incredible Artistic & Creative Guide, to break down creativity, and provide simple tangible steps to allow us all to tap into our creative & artistic instincts.
She and I share the belief that every person has creativity within them, and it’s simply a matter of exploration to uncover their potential. With this in mind, we delved into the question “For people who feel they don’t have a creative bone in their body, but are curious - what is your advice?” The results of our conversation are the 6 actionable steps below.
Before we begin, I want to share an overall tip to help prep yourself for success. Prior to seeking creativity try taking 10 minutes to breathe and meditate. Use this short time to clear your mind and ground your body. Meditation will shift your consciousness inward, and out of your thoughts, and you’ll find flowing yourself into a creative state more naturally. Now that you’re more centered, I share with you Ivy Newport’s guide to tapping into your creativity.
6 Ways to Tap Into Your Creativity
1. Listen to the things that call you:
Listen even if it makes no sense! When my first daughter was born I needed a creative outlet, and started creating homemade natural baby creams & powders. These products turned into a blog, where I could talk about what I was creating, and that blog led me to become a self-taught photographer. Photography inspired me to take art classes, and led me to become the teacher I am today. At the time the creation of baby products made no sense, but it put me on my path.
2. Be open
Check your ego at the door, and be open enough to receive the creativity that will lead to happiness. Be open to the creative instincts that may come in untraditional forms. Gardening, learning a language, coloring with your children, cooking a beautiful meal, these are all wonderful creative practices worthy of being explored.
3. Be humble
At the start, you won’t know what you’re doing and you need to be ok with that. Be ok with being a student and starting at the beginning, being no good at all, and doing it anyways. I’ll have students come to me frustrated they can’t paint a face, when they’ve never painted in their life. What makes you think you’ll be able to paint a face the first day you pickup a paint brush? Be humble and know that if it were easy, we’d all do it.
4. Get out of your own way
Give yourself the gift of 10 minutes of creative time, without any thought or consideration, and see where it leads. Stop analyzing, doubting where it could lead, and just start doing.
5. Accept frustration
Go in knowing that you’re going to face frustration. You’re going and freak out along the way. Putting in the work is fully worth it, but it’s not a simple path. Self-doubt, criticism and feeling lost are all part of the journey. Know you’re not alone and absolutely everyone goes thru this.
6. Be vulnerable
Being vulnerable and open is so important for our growth, but it can also be incredibly uncomfortable. Accept that there will be discomfort, and lean in with vulnerability. Your vulnerability allows you to get where you’re meant to be.
To this day, every single time I sit down to create I’m filled with fear and doubt, I hear my inner critic telling me that I’ll never be able to create something beautiful. This happens every single time, and it’s been decades! What’s important is choosing to push aside my inner critic, be vulnerable and open to the process and move ahead. Without this you won’t get anywhere.
There you have it, 6 actionable steps to bring out your creativity. I hope you’ve found these inspirational, and that you may try out that “crazy idea” that makes no sense, but you feel called to explore.
In case no one else is telling you - go do it! Give yourself the time to explore, you owe it to yourself, and as Ivy said, you never know where it’ll lead.
If this post lit a creative fire in you, I’d love to hear about it. I also highly recommend checking out The Ultimate Guide to Unlocking Your Creativity where I continue the conversation with Ivy Newport!