Creativity

I am not drawn to self-help books or those that delve into deep philosophic concepts.  I much prefer a good thriller or detective novel with an occasional biography thrown in.  I also like science, photography and quilting magazines.  In that vein, I read an interesting article in Discover magazine - "Creativity" by Lacy Schley (Jul-Aug, p 50-1).  As you may have gathered from my first sentence, it is not deep.  Each paragraph is in a separate container, sort of like the blocks of a quilt.  Easy reading!!!  I found it interesting so I will summarize very briefly.

"What Do You 'Need' to be Creative?"
1.  Low inhibition levels caused by brain activity where less information is filtered out.  The result:  more information coming in, leading to more neurological connections.

2.  An inner drive that causes you to be so passionate that you MUST do something about it.  I call this my inner bulldog.

3.  An open personality that leads to the desire to experience more things and opportunities.  You are likely to be curious, perceptive, imaginative and intellectual.

The article does not indicate whether these qualities are the result of nature or nurture.  Does it matter?   Where do you fit on the continuum?  I find that these criteria fit me pretty well, but not perfectly.


The other part of the article focuses on "How Can You Spark Creativity?"

1.  Have hope.  Even when you are not sure about a project, hope motivates you to at least try it.  It tends to jump-start your creativity.

2.  Take a hike.  It gets the endorphins going, which make you feel really good about yourself.  Stress levels are reduced, which promotes creative thought and problem solving.

3.  Work on your own and then share with a group.  Group discussion can ofter help that gets ideas flowing.

4.  Meditate.  Not necessarily formal meditation, but rather nondirective where you allow your thoughts to flow wherever they want to.  This activates brain areas associated with memory retrieval and emotion.  It generates ideas and solutions.

5.  Think differently.  Break out of your usual habits.  Try something new.

6.  Just do it!  The more you try, the more chance you have of expressing your own creativity.

I look at the above and realize that I have probably used all the jump-starters at one time or another without realizing that I was sparking my creativity.

The most recent new endeavor for me was to take a class where I created a picture of my dog from lots of little, bitty pieces of fabric.  I have done similar projects before, but I learned a new method and created my dog with a completely different look than I would have done on my own.  I went kind of wild with color, which was really out of my comfort zone.  Next week I will share my journey so far with that project.

Sneak peak of "Dixie"

Sew a Happy Seam this Week and do something really creative.