As the world watched the Super Bowl this past weekend, our eyes were transfixed on a sea of creativity.
Bruno Mars, tearing up his performance on the biggest stage in the world.
A ready Seahawks defense, rendering Peyton Manning immobile.
U2, releasing a new single via a multi million dollar commercial.
All over the place – from cameras to cornerbacks to coaches and commercials, we were inundated with creativity in varied forms.
When we consider creativity, our thinking often wanders to the large stages. We think on the big crowds. We marvel over the final product.
When we think of that – part of us gives up on our own creativity.
We think:
- “I’m just not creative. I don’t have the ideas like so and so.”
- “I could never do what he does.”
- “I don’t know where to begin.”
- “My work just isn’t that good. No one will like it.”
I doubt it.
Truth is, we all have creative potential. The question is whether you’ve cultivated it or not.
For the most part, creativity is often relegated to the musicians, painters, photographers, and other artsy-types. But in honesty, creativity isn’t about any particular craft or vocation.
Creative people create. They problem solve. They look at the world and create something that reflects what they see. Creativity could be applied to business and ministry just as much as it could your easel and paints.
Creativity is about consistency, not inspiration.
Creativity needs cultivated, no one is born with it.
6 Tips to Help Jumpstart Your Creativity
Here are few tips to help jumpstart your creativity.
1. Change Your Thinking – Stop thinking in terms of “right” and “wrong”. If you make a mistake, think of it in terms of possibility. What did you learn from said “mistake”?
2. Try New Things – When was the last time you did something new? Picked up a new instrument? Tried a new location? Crafted something out of the ordinary? Take a risk and do something new.
3. Create Early – Whether you’re a morning person or not, you owe it to yourself to try the early hours. Even just to see what all the hoopla is about. I’ve found that my mind is freshest in the early morning, before it gets filled with other people’s agendas and the stresses of the day.
4. Experiment With a Daily Ritual – The daily lives of history’s most creative people are routinely boring. Take a sneak peak in Mason Curry’s great book, Daily Rituals: How Artist’s Work to see how many of them order their day.
5. Surround Yourself With Creative People – Oftentimes our creativity stagnates because we don’t surround ourselves with creative people taking creative risks. This should be real people you hang out with, as well as those you look up to through social media. Believe it or not, Twitter can be a great place to be inspired by other’s work. As long as you use it as fuel to get your creative juices flowing.
It’s time to hear from you guys.
How is your creativity doing? Are you in a stale season or are you thriving?
What will it take for you to go to the next level? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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Location is huge for me.. I love my favorite coffee shop, but as it becomes routine… friendships develop (good thing) so there’s less and less time to create because of conversations that begin. Parks are good when it is a little warmer!
YES – love me some parks. Coffee shops are good, depending on the type of work. Tough to do songwriting in the middle of St. Arbucks 🙂
First of all, congratulations to you and your wife on the birth of your daughter!
To respond to your article on creativity, in order for me to go to the next level, I would need to pay more attention to the ideas God has given me, I would have to trust that the ideas I get are actually from God, and I would have to seek Him diligently to find out what he wants me to do with the ideas. I have started so many worship songs, but I don’t know anything about music and I don’t play an instrument. I wrote them out of pain I was dealing with at the time. Anyway, I appreciate reading all that you share. Blessings to you and your family.
Thanks Janet! Sounds like you need to learn an instrument 🙂 Have you tried?
Yes, congrats on the birth of your daughter! Thanks for sharing your insight. It is affirming to me. As I’m on day 2 of my first weekend in YEARS that I practice piano in he morning instead of sleeping in, before go to Farmers Market or shopping or house cleaning! And I sense improvement , and have also been alert enough to make a few “mistakes” and know they sounded great! Thanks again for all of your advise!
Chris, that is so great! What kind of music are you playing?
There’s a saying: “You were created, by the Creator, to be creative.”
God created mankind in His image, and considering that the very first attribute of God we are introduced to in the Bible is His creativity (Gen 1:1). And the very first thing where we see His creativity exhibited is creation.
If possible, I would recommend to anyone with a creative block to get out of the city for a few hours, turn OFF the cell phone, take your Bible and a journal with you, and go get with God (OK, might be a little tough at the moment in February to do this outside, but get outside your normal surroundings and go somewhere that has lots of space and quiet where you can hear yourself think.
If you haven’t done it in a while, might be time 😉
Love that, Cheyne. I used to do this more than I have in recent years. You may have just given me the inspiration I need 🙂