Creativity on Demand

“What if questions are classic keys to unleashing creativity, so let’s begin with a few:

• What if there is a source of creative energy that is inexhaustible, easily accessible, and free?
• What if the people we call geniuses, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Hildegard von Bingen, Nikola Tesla, and Marie Curie, had an intuitive understanding of how to connect with this source?
• What if for thousands of years people have been studying how to access, cultivate, store, and express creative energy?
• What if this wisdom, shrouded for millennia by esotericism and cultural prejudice, is now readily available?
• What if this book could teach you to apply that wisdom to raise your baseline of creative energy and insight?
• What if we combined this practical wisdom on accessing creative energy with an exploration of the most powerful methods for understanding and applying the creative process in your life now?

The answers are: There is. They did. They have been. It was and now it is. It will. And you will discover that you are more creative than you’ve ever imagined!”

“Q: What’s the most important element in the practices?

A: Practice is the most important element of practice. In other words, “Just do it.” Filmmaker Woody Allen said, “Eighty percent of success is just showing up.” If you show up and practice every day, you will be transformed. And when you practice, the most important element is your attitude. If you bring a creative mindset and embrace your practice with gratitude, you will multiply the benefits.”

“The creative mindset is my term for the attitudes and orientations that optimize creativity. These include playfulness, a sense of purpose, chutzpah, courage, persistence in the face of uncertainty, an appreciation for beauty and nature, and a deep humility that is the soul of creative confidence.

A mindset, according to The American Heritage Dictionary, is a “habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations.” Mindset functions all the time, for better or for worse, whether we are conscious of it or not. It serves as a filter for our experience and it has a powerful influence on every aspect of our lives. Psychologists have known for many years that mindsets have a huge influence on our moods, our perceptual abilities, and our general level of happiness. And mindset is probably the most important influence on our creative ability.”

“Dweck elucidates two major mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.

People with a fixed mindset believe that fundamental abilities like creativity, intelligence, or coordination are predetermined and unchangeable. A fixed mindset leads people to defend their status quo, avoid feedback, and fear mistakes. People with a fixed mindset believe that talent alone is the key to success.

Those with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that fundamental abilities like creativity, intelligence or coordination can be developed and improved throughout life. Whatever their talent level, they believe that effort, perseverance, and practice are the keys to excellence. Because of their dedication to improvement, they are not afraid of feedback or of making mistakes. People with a growth mindset are more resilient and more committed to lifelong learning.”

“We have a choice about the attitudes we adopt, and these attitudes have a profound influence on our lives. We can choose to shift from a fixed to a growth mindset, which is the first essential key to the creative mindset. The four-step process of changing begins with self-observation.

“Once you realize that you are born to be creative and that you can continue to cultivate your creative energy throughout life, the big question becomes: “What do I want to create?”

In order to know what you want to create, it helps to know your purpose. Perhaps you already have a well-defined and inspiring sense of purpose. Most people find, however, that they can benefit by clarifying and energizing their sense of purpose. A clear sense of purpose makes it much easier to deal with adversity and overcome obstacles. Leonardo da Vinci counseled, “Fix your course to a star.” Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) advised, “He who has a why in life can bear with almost any how.”

What’s your star, your why? What’s the meaning of your life? It is, of course, to make your life meaningful. How? By knowing your purpose and striving to live in alignment with it.”

“In act 3, scene 4, of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark beseeches his mother to “[a]assume a virtue, if you have it not.” This is Shakespeare’s way of saying “fake it until you make it.” The Urban Dictionary explains that that this phrase means “to act like you are something so you can, in fact, become that thing.” Hamlet emphasizes this point by adding, “For use almost can change the stamp of nature.” And, he concludes, “[h]abit can change even one’s natural instincts, and either rein in the devil in us, or kick him out.”

Shakespeare’s advice echoes the idea originated by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) that we acquire a particular quality by acting in a particular way. In other words, we become ethical by acting ethically, and brave by acting bravely.

And we become creative by acting creatively.

This is the chutzpah principle of creativity. Chutzpah is a Yiddish word that can be interpreted to mean audacity or nerve in the face of uncertainty. The closest word in the American vernacular is moxie.”

“Contemporary science is beginning to validate the intuitive understanding of these great minds. In a study conducted jointly by researchers from the universities of Utah and Kansas, a group of fifty-six people who spent four to six days on an Outward Bound nature experience, disconnected from all electronics, showed a 50 percent increase on creativity tests. A follow-up study found that spending just three hours in nature led to a 20 percent improvement. As naturalist John Muir reminds us, “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings; nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares drop off like autumn leaves.””

“Creativity in any area of life requires courage. If it’s creative, it’s a risk. There’s always the possibility of rejection.

We tend to think of heroism as a feat of derring-do—rescuing hostages or pulling someone from a burning building—but the courage to make inner changes, to face anxiety directly, is equally heroic. The process of shifting out of a fixed mindset to embrace a creative one will, for most people, generate significant anxiety. Rescuing the creative self that has been held hostage by the fixed mindset, pulling your dreams out of the quicksand of fear, and committing to a more creative life are acts of courage.

The word courage comes from the Latin root cor, meaning “heart.” Creativity requires heart, the willingness to trust yourself even as you recognize that you could be wrong. It also requires the strength to trust yourself in the face of resistance, which you will surely encounter if your invention, idea, painting, or project is truly creative.”