10 Ways to Thrive as a Creative Artist
1. Connect with your DREAM - Indulge yourself in a vision of the bigger picture and get out of the mire of self-doubt, details and challenges of today. What's the purpose of it all? What are you working towards? What is your unique mission to carry out?
Daily Practice: Spend a few quiet moments reflecting on your BIG CREATIVE DREAM. Then, capture your thoughts through words, images and/or music and look back on these every day as a way to reconnect.
2. Connect with your "INNER ARTIST" - That part of you that's naturally exuberant, joyful, free in its pure expression of creative thought; undamaged, unhindered, unencumbered.
Daily Practice: Approach your art as child's play. Start your creative work time by playing your instrument "wrong", switching hands or in two different keys at the same time. Write a song using only words that start with the letter "d". Make mistakes. Laugh.
3. Connect with your MUSE - Nurture your relationship with this special inner voice. Listen for its wisdom and carry out its wishes.
Daily Practice: Your muse is unique to you, and so are the ways you can best tune in to it. Experiment with other forms of art that inspire you, nature walks, meditation, cooking and people who glow.
4. Connect with your BODY - When unhealthy habits sap your body of its vitality and strength your creativity and productivity will be sapped as well.
Daily Practice: One of the best practices for a healthy body, mind and spirit is to get enough sleep and rest. Tonight, end your evening activities a half hour early and spend that time winding down. Release the worries of the day by writing or speaking about them. Calm yourself with a bath, tea, massage, music or a good read that doesn't remind you of your work.
5. Connect with SPIRIT - Redefining your vision of a Higher Power to one that supports your creative life can unleash a powerful source for your creativity.
Daily Practice: Write a letter, humbly thanking your Higher Power for your creative gifts and describing all of the ways you're making use of them. Include things you wish are true that aren't quite there yet, & read this letter daily as a way of expressing gratitude for another day lived as a creative artist.
6. Connect with your THOUGHTS - You can learn what your inner critic wants and how to peacefully coexist with it. You have the power to change your perception, and to out-think your fears and your inner critic.
Daily Practice: This is from "Taming your Gremlin" by Richard Carson. Simply notice when you have a self-criticizing or negative thought. You don't have to act on it, dwell on it, believe it, argue with it or rationalize it. Simply notice it.
7. Connect with your FEARS - There can be fears just under the surface of every choice we make in a day's time. Fear of being rejected keeps us from asking someone to join us for coffee. Fear of financial insecurity keeps us from buying something wonderful that would inspire us creatively. Fear of failure keeps us from starting or finishing a new project.
Daily Practice: Name one fear that's guiding your actions today. Write it down, and then talk about it to someone you trust, or explore it in song, musical improvisation or art. Now, identify one small step towards the action you've been afraid to do and commit to when you'll do it. If the action is small enough to be done in two minutes or less - do it today!
8. Connect with your FELLOW TRAVELERS - whether it's your band mates, conductor, audience, mother, spouse, artistic community members or children, our relationships can enhance AND challenge our lives in many ways.
Daily Practice: Ask someone else about their dream (creative or otherwise) and listen intently to their answer. Ask questions and let them know you've heard what they've said by repeating little bits back to them. In this one brief conversation, practice NOT sharing your own personal experiences, simply be there to listen intently and witness their dream.
9. Connect with your STRENGTHS - Learn how to acknowledge your own gifts, accept compliments graciously and to present yourself confidently as the extraordinarily unique artist that you are.
Daily Practice: Create a list of everything that's wonderful about you - the different roles you hold in life, your accomplishments, the failures you've learned from and survived, the losses you've endured, the gifts you were born with, the skills you've developed and the knowledge you've gained. Read this list every day and connect with your strengths.
10. Connect with your SURROUNDINGS - A cluttered environment can create chaos and makes it that much more difficult to get things done ("Where's my pen?").
Daily Practice: A major clutter-clearing can take weeks and is best done a little bit at a time so it doesn't get too overwhelming. For today, simply put away your things after you're done with them.
Copyright 2005, Genuine Coaching Services. All rights reserved.
Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. To receive her free monthly newsletter, "Everyday Artist", subscribe at http://www.genuinecoaching.com/artist-newsletter.html
MORE RESOURCES:
Hull adds creative element to Dallas Stars' company line Dallas Morning News, TX - The job, to Hull, is one of creativity and ideas, and not so much contracts and the salary cap. That's the reason Stars owner Tom Hicks made it a two-man ... |
Group hopes to transform vacant building into NoDo creative center Omaha World-Herald, NE - BY CHRISTINE LAUE An artist-led group wants to transform a mostly vacant north downtown building into a creative center with studios, classrooms, ... Retail space seen as vital to linking NoDo, Old Market arts areas |
 Los Angeles Times | With offensive creativity, the Buckeyes struck back, but also left ... The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com, OH - Craig Holman/Columbus DispatchFor a third straight year, Ohio State fans watched the final seconds with forlorn expressions on Monday night. ... Buckeye Comeback Goes Does Not Hold Up |
President-elect Barack Obama inspires an artistic flood of creativity Chicago Tribune, United States - By Colleen Mastony | Tribune reporter An Ohio man drew a portrait on an Etch A Sketch. An Iowa woman carved a bust out of chilled butter. ... |
Hugo Create Contest – Discover Your Creativity MediaSyndicate (press release) - Today, creative individuals are mixing their multi-disciplinary skills and talents to go beyond the traditional paths of art. ... |
FileMaker Developers Win $1000 for Your Creativity prMac (press release), TX - [prMac.com] Richmond, VA - FMWebschool today announces an exciting competition that will put your creative genius to the test. ... |
 The Frisky | Are Creative Types Just Good For Flings? The Frisky, Georgia - Are “creative types” good for anything other than flings? “I am always attracted to creative men,” one woman writes the Guardian. ... |
Canada Amnesty International Secretary General: Cultural Show ... The Epoch Times, NY - It obviously reflects considerable hard work and talent and creativity," said Neve who is the Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada. ... Filmmaker Gets Ideas, Inspiration ‘A true delight’ Says Public Official |
 BigNews.biz (press release) | Creativity and Flexibility in Custom Branded Items: BigNews.biz (press release), MA - This high level of flexibility and creativity is found across the board in the product offerings of Factory Direct Promos ... |
Learning from small town creativity and commerce Princeton Union Eagle, MN - In both cases, they’ve responded with creativity and cooperation to draw in millions of dollars, and survive, as other places declined. ... |
Produce Creativity: 4 Ways To Motivate Your Melon
It was 8:00 PM and I'd hit a creative wall - hard. But there was so much work to be done! And I just had to get out of the office or else my article would never get finished.
Problem Solving Techniques For Business And Life
Learning a few good problem solving techniques can improve your bottom line and your life.Do you ever run out of good ideas, or go around in circles trying to come up with a solution for a persistent problem? Maybe you just need to learn some simple problem solving techniques, and then start applying them.
The Power Of Your Intuition
We all have enormous reserves of mental capacity that we habitually fail to use. There is no problem that we cannot solve, no obstacle we cannot overcome, and no goal we cannot achieve when we learn to use the incredible power of our mind to its full capacity.
Top Ten Brainstorming Techniques for Business Success
We experience creativity every time a fresh idea pops into our minds. We recognize creative imagination in everything from a pastel painting to a business plan.
Art, Artists and Vocation
"If you really want to upset your parents?go into the arts!"-Kurt VonnegutHow many times have people been told that "You can't make it as an artist."How many times when you've told someone that you are studying theater, dance, the visual arts, do people look at you and cringe; feel sorry for you, and feel that you and your family have wasted a great deal of money, and that you have wasted years of your life.
Being Creative is Essential for Online Success
Do you have a strategy that ensures your online business stands out from the crowd?If your answer to the above is NO then you need to address this issue, because if you don't, it is unlikely that your online presence will even be noticed.With there being so much competition in every field on the internet it is essential that you offer your target market something different than your competitors.
Art of Creation with Attention
Attention is the greatest creative power in the world. If you command your attention, you command your creation/life.
Mindfulness and Creativity: The Wow of Wonder
You are so creative.Don't deny it.
How to Make Time for Art
The key to making time for art is the ability to say "NO".If you say "yes" to everything that is asked of you, you will not have time to be creative.
Creativity Management - Working From Real Life
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
New Inventions - From Absurd to Wacky!
New inventions? Heard of a revolving restaurant combination television tower? How about color x-ray pictures? Or heard of a new invention that turns the sea's salt water drinkable? These are wacky new inventions not having been fully used!Are you on the lookout for shirts that don't require ironing? For $4,000.00, you are able to purchase a shirt processed out of titanium-alloy fibers interwoven with nylon.
How Do You Paint New Age
About once every year or so, I take a critical look at the design of my web site and now our popular newsletter and wonder what I could do to create a theme background for them.The site has been changed several times over the last four years, but it doesn't really have a theme backdrop.
Finding A Little Adventure
I have had more than my share of exciting times and I'm grateful for every one of them.There was the time the bear came into camp at 11:00 p.
Creativity, Innovation, and Market Performance
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
Tips on Breaking the Creative Block
There's no question that creating anything is hard to do. Here are some tips if you find yourself creatively blocked.
Creativity: The Key To Getting More Done In Less Time
If your to-do list seems as long at the end of the day as it did at the start (or worse yet, longer!) then you could definitely use an injection of creativity in your work day.Here are five simple ways of using your creativity to improve the quality of your day:1) Stop banging your head against the wall -- A good chunk of the time people waste in a day is due to stressing over the same problems that face them day after day.
Are You A Creative Meathead?
Remember Archie Bunker's description of what a Meatheadwas on All in the Family?Dead, from the neck up!When it comes to creaivity, innnovation, coming up with ideas that magically turn into money - are you alive?Ever wonder how some of the big names in business are able tocontinually come up with new, innovative product ideas, marketing programs and publicity projects?New ideas are the lifeblood of leaping to the top of your field.Without diving into the bowels of scientific theory, itis absolutely true that to fuel creativity, your brain needsnew input.
The Elements of Creativity: Attributes Listing Method
Attribute listing is one of the best ways to generate ideas, whereby there any many parts to the problem/ challenge faced. If you are asked to generate ideas or solutions to a complex challenge, the first thing you can do is to list all the attributes of your problem.
Sharing Our Creative Work with Others
In my "Roadblocks to Creativity" e-course, I ask the question:"What's your first thought if someone hesitates before giving you their opinion about your creative project?"One artist wrote: "When some one hesitates before giving their opinion of my work, I think it is going to be negative; I recently showed some work to my boss and her criticism was so harsh that I now won't show her anything, but the worse part is--it made me even more conscious of showing my work to others as well. She was going through some hard stuff at the time, so my timing was way off.
Creative Memory Tricks
What's the biggest problem with memory tricks? Remembering to use them, of course. There are many memory techniques that work well, but you'll forget them when you need them most - unless you make using them a habit.
