Creativity is just about one of the most discussed subjects in the world. How do I get it? Have I got it? Does it go away? Businesses pay a lot for it. It affects almost everything we experience.
Look around you. The room you are in is laid out a certain way, as a result of someone’s creativity (or lack of!). The device you’re reading this on was designed by creative minds. The clothes you’re wearing and the music playing in the background are both a result of the mystery of creativity.
We’re creative beings because we are made in the image of a creative God. He spoke and made. He imagined and envisaged and it became so and it was good. When we create, whether it is painting, graphic design, writing, or food, we are doing ‘God work’. It’s an act of worship.
There are a handful of people in the world who seem to be able to be creative at the drop of a hat. They brim with it and their legacies are far reaching. For the rest of us, being creative can be a bit of a battle. A thousand distractions jump up, all frantically waving their arms for attention.
In his short, but encouraging book, The War of Art, author Steven Pressfield talks about the power of Resistance. “It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.”
How do we fight this Resistance? Well, here are three ideas that might help you on your creative quest:
1. Everything is inspiration.
The world around us is constantly filled with inspiring ideas. If you see something that catches your interest, log it. Make a note in your phone, take a picture, capture it in some way. It’s OK to have no idea why you noticed that advertisement or why that phrase jumped out at you. It doesn’t really matter. It touched your imagination. That’s enough of a reason to save it, just in case.
2. Practice.
As a writer, for every good sentence I write, I pen about 80 bad ones. Last year, that number was 100-1. I’m going in the right direction. There’s no substitute for practice. Remember, “what is hard is sitting down to create.” Fight the Resistance!
3. Know Yourself.
Part of creativity is setting yourself up to win. Are you a morning person? Great! Capitalize on that time of day and find as much morning space to do your creative work. Does coffee after 4 pm make you grouchy? Don’t drink it. Do you get easily distracted by Facebook? Leave your phone at home and work somewhere without WiFi. It’s hard enough to do creative work; don’t make it harder on yourself!