What does it mean to be creative? How can a Creativity Coach help me with my life?
Creativity comes in many forms. It is natural for some and work in progress for others. Some people feel stuck, because they have not been creative to push themselves to their full potentials. Being creative can facilitate a better understanding of self as well as emotional intelligence of others. Below are various forms of creativity.
Creative thinking involves critical and analytical thinking to dissect what is seen and uncover what is unseen. Life is a big bowl of variables - independent, dependent, confounding, extraneous. Some people can only see the obvious. Deeper level thinking is natural for a small percentage of individuals. Training the brain to see beyond the obvious takes time. An example between the two would be students. When asked questions, some students simply regurgitate what they have read or heard. Other students demonstrate their understanding of the concept by using real world applications to current scenarios. The latter is creativity of thinking.
Sometimes we allow sound frequencies to reverberate throughout our bodies, and we find ourselves moving. Dancing and movement can be considered forms of creativity. Autists and individuals with ADHD engage in stimming - repetitive movements, actions, sounds, behavior. Dancing could be similar to stimming. When one is frustrated, one may not want to scream. Rather, one may simply prefer to move voluntarily or involuntarily. Even if you feel as if you are merely flailing, it is still a creative outlet, and your āflailingā pattern is unique to you. It allows you to expend excess energy, thus, become more calm.
Perhaps to calm yourself, you find yourself humming, tapping, making noises with objects, your appendages, your body, or singing. The sounds you make may be considered forms of music even if the sounds have no discernible rhythm or pattern. Expressing yourself in this matter may feel calming, so why not try it.
This method of creativity may include short or long stories, poetry, lyrics, etc., and it may be written or spoken. To understand deeper meanings of incidents or events, it helps to speak of the event out loud to hear yourself process it and discern fact versus fantasy. Autists and those with ADHD may fixate on specific words or phrases and repeat them until they are bored or calm. One weekend, I repeatedly said ākumquatā similar to substituting the eff word for three days. There are times I may stim inappropriate words, and I may even have to say them loudly. Words are powerful. They can help or harm. If certain words are harmful, remove the power of those words, so those words no longer affect you. Become ambivalent to words. The b word has negative connotations; however, when you destigmatize the word to the point of indifference, it will no longer affect you. This graphic was found in Cricut Design Space.
5. Sculpting, Building, Designing
Sculpting, building, designing things can be calming, meditative and freeing. Do not worry about being perfect. The end result is to express yourself. If your clay elephant appears to be a lump, it does not matter. You have used your negative energy in a productive way to allow your feelings and creativity flow.
6. Sewing, Crocheting, Knitting, Embroidery, Fabric and Thread Work
Perhaps making your own clothes, quilts, scarves, or anything, involving fabric or threads are the way you express yourself and/or find calming.
7. Drawing, Painting, Photography
Visual arts have been expressive since before the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt, or Chinese characters. Those symbols were methods of communication. One need not have formal training or skill to draw, paint, or photograph. Getting the images out of your head, employing any of those methods can help you convey what is difficult to describe. As the saying, āa picture is worth a thousand words,ā use your unspoken words.
Crafting may be expensive unless you know how to recycle materials. It is a great way to express yourself while creating gifts for yourself or others. These French Bulldog graphics were found on Cricut Design Space and cut with Cricut Joy.
Some of us express how we feel by the way we apply our makeup at the time.
A Creativity Coach can help you identify which methods with which you are most comfortable expressing yourself. A great coach thinks out of the box to help you see that which is unseen. No matter which method of creativity you utilize, remember it is for you, and it does not have to be perfect. There is beauty in imperfection, and imperfections remind us we are human.
