Sixty seconds to a more creative you

Sixty seconds to a more creative you:
Ways to get creative fast

Copyright © 2002 by Angela Booth

* Show up

* Trust yourself

* Shut up!

Show Up

Show up. That's all. The most important part of any task,
creative or otherwise, is simply to show up. By "showing up", I
mean get started on the creative task. The task may be as simple
as giving a presentation, or as complicated as writing a book,
but if you show up, you can do it. Showing up to tackle a
creative task is the hardest part of the project. The problem
with any creative task is that you can't figure out how to do it
using the logical left side of your brain. Creativity requires
that you use your right brain; your intuitive self. The left side
of your brain, the analytical logical side, doesn't trust the
right side. It doesn't want to relinquish control. This means
that it's very hard for most of us just to sit down and start.

There's a simple way to sidestep this problem. Acknowledge that
are two modes of perception, left brained, and right brained, and
that your right brain will perform the creative task. "Perform"
is exactly what your right brain does, when it's presented with
the creative task. Discovery---as you watch your creative self
perform--- is one of the joys of creativity. You never quite know
what's going to develop. It helps to add a little humor to this
situation. Think of your right brain as a personal assistant,
your VP of Creativity. Show up, and direct your VP to perform. If
you want more information on brain modes, check out the free
online creativity course.

I learned that showing up works when I started writing. To write
a book, you have to sit down and write it. You may not know how
to do it, but do it anyway. Write down a word, and then another
word. By the time you've written five or twenty words, you have a
sentence. Keep on showing up, sitting down and writing another
word, and before too long you have a chapter. It's taken me
almost twenty years, but I realize now that showing up is really
*all* that's required.

Trust yourself

Have faith that you can do whatever creative task is expected of
you.

You can't do it alone, however. Any creative task requires your
subconscious mind/ right side of your brain. This intuitive, non-
verbal part of you will add inspiration to the task. We spend our
lives in the left side of our brain, and it's often difficult to
believe that we even have a right brain, much less trust it to
perform a task. (See Show Up above.)

Having faith basically means getting into the right side of your
brain at will, into an alpha mind state. We'll discuss mind
states in upcoming chapters of the online creativity course.

Shut up!

Shut up! Stop labeling, analyzing, criticizing... stop
chattering, and pay attention.

Creativity demands a fresh way of seeing, a fresh understanding.
However... we already have a way of seeing creatively, and this
is direct perception.

To access direct perception, we need to turn off the constant
mind chatter we indulge in. What's direct perception? It's
seeing/ understanding, without analyzing. An example: let's say
that you're having an argument with someone. The person insults
you. Knowing it's an insult, you fire up. At this, she tells you
that you misunderstood what she said. Your direct perception
tells you that you were insulted. You saw the angry look in her
eyes, and heard her tone of voice. However, you don't want to
believe that someone would deliberately hurt you, so you decide
to believe the words, rather than the evidence of your eyes and
ears.

Creativity demands that you turn off your mind chatter, and pay
attention to your direct perception.

***Resource box: if using, please include*** When your words
sound good, you sound good. Author and copywriter Angela Booth
crafts words for your business --- words to sell, educate or
persuade. Get in touch today for a free quote:
http://www.digital-e.biz/
Free ezine: Creative Small Biz --- subscribe at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Creative_Small_Biz/

**END**