Creativity is Your Birthright
By Dave Storer | Posted 11/21/05 | Updated 8/22/24
What are some specific, practical things you can do to get to a place where you feel you absolutely have the right to create and can begin to connect deeply with your own creative process and start to actively pursue your creative dreams?
The answers to these questions are inside you. The more strongly and clearly you see yourself, the less vulnerable you will be to the opinions and attitudes of others. Meditate. Clear the chatter of your mind and get to the bedrock truth of your creative essence.
Declare your identity to the world. Decide what your artistic ambitions and intentions are, and tell everyone you know. If you are confident and decisive, you will get much better responses than you expect. As Goethe said, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
Do what you can to drop from your everyday life people who seem to feel they have the right to tell you what you can and cannot do and who you can and cannot be the people who seem threatened by your possible success and happiness. Surround yourself instead with people who give you strength through their own honesty while keeping you honest with yourself. Seek out an artist's group that supports your creative goals, or start one yourself. Few things are more invigorating than truly helping other people with their own dreams. Read biographies of your favorite artists and other successful creators.
Take classes, on-line or in person. Dive into a skill building book like "Drawing on the Right side of the Brain," or "Writing Fiction," by the Gotham Writers' Workshop, or "The Creativity Book," by Eric Maisel. Dedicate yourself to an artistic mentor in your field who is willing to take you under her wing and pass on her own hard-won skills. This is an ancient and honorable practice, and very rewarding for both apprentice and master.
Read books on creativity, take a workshop, or hire a creativity coach. Join or start a group dedicated to exploring the creative process in your chosen form. Get together with like-minded people to make, do, create just to see what happens. Groups can be very liberating, instructive, and a whole lot of fun.
When you finally get over worrying about whether you can or should do it, and manage to commit fully to your creative goals, you will really start to get into "flow." That is when your passion will kick in. That is when the magic will start to happen.
The key to successful creating is easy to state (though not always easy to achieve): Clarify your goals, commit to them fully, and start to act on them with all of your heart and mind. That is what every "genius" and otherwise satisfied creator discovers sooner or later. And there's nothing stopping you from doing the same.
Next: 9 Ways to Escape from Creativity-Halting Goo
©2005 Dave Storer. All rights reserved.
This collection of insights for successful creating is from Inspiring Creativity: Powerful Insights and Practical Ideas to Guide You to Successful Creating, published with permission.