I usually steer clear of pep talks and particularly pep talks about being creative. I prefer to get on with it but I tripped over YourCre8tivity.com which is a blog on creativity. Most articles on creativity talk about nurturing your creativity this list talks about 5 Ways to Block Your Creativity. All of them I have seen in action at various points in my life either I have watched others or they have influenced me. The list is followed by 5 ways to build your creativity. I personally like the point about forgetting perfection as perfection infers that there is a right and wrong way of doing something. Notions of ‘correctness’ are sure to block creative sparks. What is your favourite?
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It looks like procrastination is a big one, which in a way is related to not believing in yourself as it means you are not prioritising what you do creatively as an important contribution. It’s just not high enough on the list of ‘must dos’.
People ask me where I find the time to do so much. I occassionally faff about but it is rare- one thing I do is focus clearly on what ever it is I am doing and get on with it. Focus is a big aid to me.
Wow. Glad you stumbled across our site. We hope you stop by again.
Thanks for the link!
Procrastination is the killer for me. Reading too many things, seeing so many ideas – I find that I have wasted so much valuable time. Self belief comes into it too and there comes a time when you either ‘put up or shut up’, if you know what I mean!
Procrastination is my big stumbling block, but once I get going and stop allowing everything else to distract me, I do ok.
One that was even bigger then this, and which I have pretty much over come, is believing in myself. It took alot of years and encouragement from my DH and friends, but I now believe I can do most anything I set my mind to.
Procrastination is a killer for me. I bristle at rules…which is why I have trouble with my Master Craftsman Program…so many rules and all that judging!
BTW, I did the Artist’s Way and it really helped me uncork something. It was instrumental in me finding the courage to quit my job. It took me a long time to warm up to the Artist’s Date, but I loved doing morning pages.
Leonie I can only agree with what you say – I think right and wrong applies to things like not hurting people deliberately etc but other than that it can stifle all sorts of areas in our life.
Sharon , this is most timely. I teach a workshop called” Creative Thinking: Break Through That Stitcher’s Block” and I have just been going over some things as I will be teaching it at the Toronto Needle fest in the fall. From the site you linked to, point# 5 comes closest to my way of thinking. I cover a point in my class called ” Peer Pressure, it’s not just for teenagers”. People always laugh when we get to that point, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. As adults, we are just as vulnerable to peer pressure as kids. I think in certain situations ( for example I have seen it in guilds), there are certain people who believe strongly in what they think or feel is right and others are loathe to challenge them on it or fear rejection if they don’t follow along. As a result, it stifles creativity in the worst way! People need to lose the fear of being ” wrong” and allow themselves to go with the flow.