Stretching the Creativity Muscles!

On Friday, I added a quick “what if I told” Instagram LIVE (follow me there, @seyvoice) about creativity.

Let’s follow that further, shall we?

There is much said about doing something for your business, the business of you, each day. Yes, this is crucial if you are pursuing a career, if you are working to be part of the business, if you are making a place for yourself in the business.

But what about the creativity of you? What do you do for that each day?

I believe that part of the reason we get so tired, discouraged, anxious, annoyed about our business pursuits, is often because we put so much energy into that area with little tangible reward (or so we think), that we lose sight of the creativity we crave.

It is the creativity that needs our attention more than we realize.

We often get so overly focused that we forget to color or paint outside of the lines - without asking for permission!!!

We forget how those muscles stretch and how good it feels to allow that stretch and release, without value judgement.

Creativity is allowing your artistic imagination a place to be, in real time. There is flow, there is permission, there are no rights or wrongs, there is simply choice and allowing the self to find freedom in the doing.

We all need a little, and honestly, a lot of that, in our lives.

Your artistic imagination doesn’t have to just stay in your professional pursuits. In fact, it’s exciting to explore where else you can lose yourself in the spirit of creativity in places you may never have thought would give you room to explore!

Creativity comes in so many forms - from thinking & problem solving, to actually creating something tangible.

What happens if you just dream a little? See where it takes you, how it takes you. See what it stirs in you to allow for a transformation that sparks something in your spirit to lean in and take a closer look.

Those of you who have “ah ha” moments or great ideas in the shower, or during a walk, or working out at the gym - that’s the creativity muscle being activated!

Those of you are inspired by reading something, by writing something, by painting or drawing something, by doodling something - that’s the creativity.

Your creativity wants to reveal itself. Stifling it in the mundane of “I must…” creates a very beige and grey atmosphere. Your creativity needs oxygen, needs color, needs space.

If you are reading this and saying, “yeah, but Susan, I don’t know how…” That reveals how stifled that creativity is right now. That’s not a criticism, that’s an observation.

How can you, the artist, be fully engaged in your pursuit of a career, be fully present in the repertoire you offer, the classes you take, the craft you are building, if your creativity is stifled?

So, what to do?

Keep it simple. Go for a walk. Pick up a book. See a movie you’ve been wanting to see. Call someone you haven’t talked to in a while and go for coffee. Make a new recipe. Organize your bookshelves. Organize your day planner. Color. Work out. Bake.

Just be somewhere because you want to.

Create. For the sake of creativity, not for the result. Then see where it takes you in all aspects of your being!

Lose your “woulda coulda shoulda”s in the stretching of these muscles!

Creativity is active and NOW. It is not later, or finished. It must be present and current and available, otherwise it simply disappears into the dark corners.

Creativity renews your life force, your fearlessness, motivation, purpose - because the more you draw on it, the more it becomes!

Do something to stretch creatively. And then do it again. I dare you!

Oh, and I am right there with you - stretching.