Living A More Creative Life, Part 2

As promised I am continuing with the Living A More Creative Life series.  I will first approach this topic from the perspective of those who do not claim to be artists but who desire to live a more creative daily life.  These ideas can be helpful to anyone and everyone.  Then later we will look at the need to rekindle creativity in the life of the artist.

Before we proceed any further let's get one thing out of the way.  I know what you are thinking, and YES, you can!  Over the years when people learn that I am an art teacher, I receive one single response the most often.  Oh, I could never do that.  I'm just not creative.  But you know, that simply is not true.  I know, I know.  I've heard it over and over - You just don't know me.  Why, I can't even draw a straight line.  Well, I've got news for you.  Being creative has nothing to do with drawing a straight line.  That's what rulers are for.  After years of being a teacher I can tell you that everyone can learn to be a more creative person, to make more creative choices, and to think in a more creative way.  We may not all be commissioned to paint cathedral ceilings in the next few years.  But we can ALL be creative people.

In the last post on this subject I mentioned that creativity is breaking out of accepted patterns and solutions in order to find a new way of doing something.  Everyone can do that.  It is just a matter of reminding yourself to stop and think before you continue, once again, down that same ol' thread bare path. So what is your area of creativity?  How does your mind work?  Where do your thoughts go?  Renoir once said that a work of art "must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, and carry you away".  Maybe visual art is something that is within you and you don't realize it.  Perhaps you long to create in that way.  Maybe today is the day to begin trying.  Perhaps you should check with me about online classes.  Or perhaps visual art is not your area of creativity.  Perhaps it is not the way your mind works.  What is it in life that, as Renoir said, seizes you, wraps you up, and carries you away?

Creativity is a way of life, a way of moving your thoughts in a certain direction.  You can begin to incorporate creativity into your way of thinking in simple ways. Stop warming your water for tea in the microwave.  Use a tea kettle - maybe one that whistles when the water is hot.  And even better yet, pour your tea from a nice tea pot.  Are soda's your favorite drink?  Take just a moment and pour it out of that plastic bottle or the styrofoam cup and drink from a glass - a real one made from real glass where the ice clinks when you drop it in.

Put a candle on the table when you eat dinner tonight - even if you are alone.  Listen to music rather than the news while you prepare your meal.  Use glass mason jars to store your refrigerator items rather than plastic.  Keep your cotton balls in a lovely vintage tin.  Its a simple change.  But every time you get a cotton ball out, you get to enjoy a creative moment.  These kinds of small changes in our environment and our days actually only take a moment but they begin to shift our mindset toward a more soulful and creative way of living and thinking.  

These are just a few simple suggestions to get your imaginations running.  You will want to find creative embellishments to add to your life, to your days, that fit your personality and style.  They may not look like the ideas I have.  They will be uniquely YOU.  As you think of other ways to begin incorporating creativity into your daily tasks, please do comment here and share them with us all.

In the next post in the Living a More Creative Life series I will talk about bigger more life changing things that you can do to bring creativity not only into your own life but into the lives of others.

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