Albert Einstein once referred to creativity as “intelligence having fun”. I don’t know about you, but I like being intelligent and I especially like it if it’s fun.
However; despite my desire to live a creative life, the truth of the matter is that I’ve never really considered myself to be a particularly creative person. Oh sure—I like to create; I knit, crochet, craft, and write, however, the things that I create are usually from a pattern that someone else has created and I am simply replicating. Heck, even my writing, though original, typically falls in the non-fiction, self-help genre rather than among more creative fictional works.
Still…I long to be a more creative individual, so I’ve intentionally set out on a quest to cultivate more creativity in my life. I haven’t been at it for long but already, I can see that Maya Angelou was correct when she said, “you can’t use up creativity–the more you use, the more you have”. As I look for opportunities to expand my creativity, I find myself approaching everyday situations with a more creative mindset.
Here are some creativity boosting ideas that I’ve tried, along with some other suggestions that I’ve found from leading creativity experts. Pick a few to try and then watch as your increased creativity begins to spill over into every aspect of your life.
FabYOUlous Ideas for Living a More Creative Life
- Take one photo a day for an entire year. Try to vary your photos from standard shots (your family, your cat, your new car etc.) with more “artsy” photos (try varying the background or using different aperture settings etc.) At the end of your year, compile all of the photos into an album.
- Start the next great American novel by writing one page a day for a year. Just think—in a year you’ll have 365 pages. That’s plenty for a novel!
- Learn one new word every day and try to work it into a sentence. Not only will this boost your intelligence—it will also fire up your creativity.
- Take $20 to your local thrift store and try to come up with a fun new outfit.
- Create an indoor succulent garden/terrarium. For a simple tutorial, click here
- Hop over to YouTube and find a video tutorial for a creative project that you’d like to try. I’ve got this one on my to-do list.
- Try drawing something with your non-dominant hand
- Listen to some creativity inspiring podcasts. Might I suggest: The Go Creative Show, 99 Percent Invisible, Creative Mornings and The Unmistakable Creative.
- Daydream about your dream vacation, your next tattoo, your ideal career…get those creative juices fired up and then jot down the thoughts/visions/ideas that came to you during your daydream session.
- Flip through a cookbook or visit a recipe board on Pinterest (here’s one to check out) and pick out a new recipe to try.
- Try rearranging the furniture in one room of your house.
- Cut letters and images out of magazines to create a collage of your favorite quotes.
- Write a Haiku. For those of you who need a refresher—it’s a three lined poem. The first and last lines are made up of five syllables and the middle line is made up of seven syllables. It need not rhyme (most Haiku don’t).
- Visit an art museum or gallery that you’ve never been to before.
- Gather some stones and paint them, then…leave them laying around for others to find. For inspiration, click here.
- Practice an instrument for 30 minutes every day.
- Spend time every evening coloring in an adult coloring book. Here’s one of my faves.
- Upcycle something into a new, FabYOUlous creation. Here are some fun ways to upcycle blue jeans.
- Work your way through this book—it’s SO fun.
- Start a new collection of small items (rocks, thimbles, buttons, matchbook covers…) and create a shadow box in which to display your creation.
Finally, if you would like to check out a few of my favorite books on the subject of creativity cultivation, you can start with these…
- Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Play by Stuart Brown
- Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelley
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Truly, the best thing about increasing your level of creativity is that there is no real wrong way to do it. Anything that gets you thinking in a new way is boosting your creativity. It’s simply time to start making the effort—it’s time to get creative about your creativity.
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