Idea Tango

Creativity is NOT a Contact Sport

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed silence and space in relationship to creativity. This week, Ann Quasman shared an interesting New York Times article with me that not only supports that idea, but moves the conversation significantly forward via the reporter’s discussion of the benefits of solitude in fostering creativity versus the very real and long-in-the-works movement in our society to take away that solitude in service of expanding creativity – a practice that has been shown through research, as well as anecdotally by some history’s greatest thinkers and creators, to decrease creativity, learning and the quality of ideas.

Anyone who’s heard my diatribe against sharing ideas too soon has gotten a glimpse of my beliefs about the importance of alone time and solitude in creating. I’m also not a fan of brainstorming sessions (they are great for sharing thoughts, but not for developing the best final product) and typically retreat into my own little world when working in a group in order to come up with the actual ideas. After reading this article, I know I’m not alone.

As reporter Susan Cain states, collaboration and teamwork are important for certain aspects of creation, and certainly have their place, but these concepts as realized by open-space offices, group work in schools and as a replacement for solitude, are simply not generating the outcomes expected in terms of greater creativity and innovation. Per Cain, the best-producing teams come together to share ideas, make critical human connection, but do the actual creative work solo. Cain has also written a book about the power of introverts that I can’t wait to read.

Enjoy her article. It really says it all: The Rise of the New Groupthink

To the wonder of walls,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s.

Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

Creative Process - Making It Done

Special Note for those coming from the WomanTalk Live website Spark Factory article: Scroll down past the article for a list of tips and tricks for Getting the Grit to Get it Done

This past Saturday night I had the honor of joining Ann Quasman on the WomanTalk Live radio show for a conversation about the four steps of the creative process - what I titled in previous blog posts: 1) Sponge Work; 2) In The Flow; 3) Inspiration & Insight; and 4) Making It Real.

However, there’s one aspect of creative process that we didn’t get a chance to cover deeply – and one I also promised to re-visit in the article on the third step Getting the Big Idea: The idea that, under certain circumstances, we need to make a conscious choice to move to the next step whether we feel ready or not, especially:

• The conscious choice to “force” the inspiration or insight.
• The conscious choice to begin the hands-on creation work.
• The conscious choice to stop working and call your creation done.

While some may argue that the creative process by it’s very nature can’t be forced, anyone whose worked as a creative professional knows differently. So does anyone who has ever written a blog, or crafted a tweet. Or, anyone who needs to get dinner on the table by 6pm.

Obviously, there’s nothing that can force the next phase of the creative process faster than a deadline. But moving forward before we are ready, or finishing before we are “done,” is also a way of practicing a very critical aspect of creativity in general – letting go. To be even more specific, letting of perfection.

As imperfect as our creation is; no matter how much better it would have been if we had spent a few more hours, weeks, months or years; or despite the fact that infinite outcomes really are possible from any single inspiration or insight; there is a time to stop.

To paraphrase Julia Cameron creator of The Artist’s Way: No creation will EVER be done - and learning to finish is key to unlocking even greater productivity and, more importantly, greater confidence around our creations.

Below are a few tips for practicing and getting comfortable with the Making It Done aspect of creativity. I see the application of this practice as essential in countless situations and for all types of people. Entrepreneurs are a case in point. It seems so obvious that revenue will not be earned if your product or service is always in progress, and yet so many of us tinker so long, trying to perfect every aspect that we lose the chance to earn a living from our passion. Our competition soars through the finish line with a lesser product, perhaps, but more guts.

To achieve any dream or goal, we have to consciously choose to cross the finish line. If we look hard, we might see that those who have achieved success and fulfillment are those who have been willing to cross imperfectly, eons before feeling ready.

Getting the Grit to Get It Done

The following tips and exercises can support you in practicing making your creations real and getting projects done:

• Set a deadline and stop at the time you set - no matter what. Deadlines are a fact of life, but they typically don't apply to our personal projects. Having "forever" to finish is not always helpful when practicing building the Make It Done muscle. By setting a deadline and sticking to it, you can practice accepting that "finished" is subjective and that what's unfinished in your eyes is very often perfectly finished to other people.
  

• Embrace imperfection in all aspects of your life. Not just around specific creations, but in everything you do. Practicing allowing imperfection is a great way to become more comfortable with the imperfect and to actually begin to see the perfection in all things, including your own creations.
  

• Notice imperfection, and let go of judgement around that imperfection, in other's lives and creative works. Judging others less harshly, or even better, not judging at all, has a boomerang affect. If you can be less hard on others, you can learn to be less hard on yourself simply by applying the exact same thought patterns internally - and sometimes it's easier to begin with non-judgement of others than it is to stop judging ourselves.
  

• Display your creations (all your creations from what you wear and what you cook for dinner to art or anything else) without explanation, excuses or apology. Learning how to allow your creations to simply be is one of the most valuable lessons in all of creativity. It helps separate self from work and, over time, saying simply "thank you" or nothing at all builds confidence like nothing else. It is the practice of "acting as if" - acting confident before feeling confident.
  

• Avoid the second guessing game initiated by other people like the plague. Answer remarks from others such as "did you think about ...", "you could have ..." and "why didn't you ..." with: "I chose to do this [fill in the blank] this way and I'm quite happy with the result." And say nothing else. Be silent. You will likely be very surprised by what the person making the statement says after you refuse to play the "it could have been better" game. Usually, it's something very supportive and celebratory of your creation.
  

• Separate Self from Work. This is an ongoing practice for many creators. The idea that we are our work becomes ingrained in us from an early age (think about the kudos a child receives over a finger painting from a proud parent - or the shame/guilt he or she might feel when told not to draw outside the lines). We are what we create has a seed of truth within it - under certain instances, but we are NOT our physical creations. I work on this concept often - and I'm not always where I want to be (I know because of the pit I sometimes feel in the face of criticism). But I have made huge strides, and the best ways I've found to practice are by using simple mantras, visualizing the separation between myself and my creations and physicalizing the separation by creating physical space between myself and my creations for a period of time.
  

To finishing already,

Susan B.

Unlocked Box – coaching for risk-takers, box-breakers and wannabe’s.

Sign up for the eZine Guts at UnlockedBox.com and get the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity.

 

 

The Creative Process: Silence & Space

Creativity always feels different for me during the first week of a new year.

Life is like a blank canvas: Full of potential, ready for yet to be realized and wondrous imaginings – a fresh start. 

So, what better time to build on the topic of Creative Process (read the first articles) then as we all stare down our multiple and metaphorical blank canvases for 2012?

I was recently on a coaching forum when a fellow coach known for his classes on basic coaching skills asked the forum to share those skills we thought needed emphasis in the coaching community. One respondent’s answer, in particular, caught my attention:*

"Silence and space around questions

(no matter how often it is discussed there is never enough).”

I don’t think you have to be to be a coach to understand – or to know why this hit me so profoundly.

Our society can be so cluttered. How desperate we sometimes are to fill up the spaces in our lives with stuff, noise and superficial connection. Our wants, our addictions, our often frenetic way of being. The running to here and to there; trying to do this or that. And quickly. The feeling of no “real” time. No time for ourselves; no time for each other. 

The pervasive loss of silence, space and time to ponder.

Creative process is the process of giving silence and space to questions. And I think the responding coach is right. No matter how often it’s discussed, we coaches (and all of us) neglect to offer enough: A deep enough silence or a long enough space around the questions we ask our clients, our friends, our families, our lovers and ourselves, for truth and beauty to emerge.

This is a new year. A blank canvas is before you. You, too, might be feeling the excitement, anticipation, even anxiety of your creative self, all fresh and clean; her or his eyes, ears and mind open to the magnificent and brilliant creations to come.

With silence and space, I’m asking: What do you want to create in 2012?

 

*Marion Franklin, MCC, Life Coach, Mentor, and Trainer

Creative Process in Action: This American Life Peels Back The Onion

Back in February I was lucky enough to be driving during the time This American Life airs on my local public radio station.

Those of you who listen to This American Life know what I mean by "lucky," and those who don't are in for a real treat!

This particular episode of This American Life was called: Tough Room and was basically about self expression in the face of a difficult audience. The entire show (per usual) was provocative and engaging, but the first act/story was especially not to be missed for anyone interested in creativity or working as a creative professional: a front row seat for the creative process that results in each new issue of The Onion - a hilarious satirical newspaper.

Listen Here

Within this one story, there so much insight into so many aspects of creativity: courage, nuance, judgment, rejection, acceptance, revision, subtly, work, play, originality, letting go, holding on and more.

The primary reason for this post is simply to share a rare experience with you - the opportunity to listen in on the creative process. Then, I would love to hear your reaction, thoughts and insights about what you heard.

And, of course, I also want to share just a couple of my own:

Words Fail (or it can be hard to explain why something is good): This story drove home for me something that I've always struggled with as a creative professional creating "things" for other people. The sometimes impossibly difficult to describe reason why one idea or "thing" is RIGHT, PERFECT, WILL WORK whereas another similar idea or "thing" is not right, not perfect, won't work - or, at least, not as well. In the audio story, there is an example of this:

One of the writers tries to explain why a certain headline for The Onion is better - why it works. Words fail her. That's me!!! a lot of the time. I get a gut feeling about a creation (why it works), and I can have a hard time articulating that why. I almost want to say, "Just trust me!" but that is not a good reason for ANYONE to follow me down a certain road.

The editor at paper takes on the same headline that the writer was trying to explain and is able to get to the nuance and meaning of it - the reason why it works and why another version doesn't. He reveals that he did not get it right away. He had to spend time thinking about it, processing it and through that WORK discovered what the headline had to say. This is something a lot of the people I work with creatively are great at - something I want to work on. Taking the time to figure out why you are choosing one creation over another. If this is done in the inpiration and insight phase of the creative process, I beleive it can only improve what happens as you are making your creation real.

Invisible Creators (or separating self from the ideas your "self" puts out there for other people to stomp on or embrace): Is The Onion a Tough Room? Yes. But only because of the scruntiny each headline is put under. Not because of how the people in the room treat each other and each other's creations.

Objectivity. Distance.

There is a clear understanding that the creator with a bad idea is not bad - that the work is separate from the person.

In other words (and this is something covered in the 10 Un-Rules of Creativity that you can get at www.unlockedbox.com), an idea is just that, an idea. Not necessarity right, not necessarily wrong - and definitely NOT indicative of the quality of creativity inherent within the creator.

There is no doubt that each person creating for The Onion is valued as a creator by the others around the table. The question is: How does the creator get into the space where his or her ideas are separate enough from self that rejection is more about, "Darn, I LOVED that creation, and now it's going away! Okay, let's move on to the next thing." Instead of, "Darn, they HATED my idea, they probably hate me too. They think I'm HORRIBLE! I'm never putting myself out there again."

Do creators at The Onion get their creative souls squashed at times? I know they do. They may not show it, and they may. Many of them may be way better at separation and others not as much.

But from what I know from my experience as a writer in countless group idea sharing sessions and presentations (and what I know all of you who have the courage to practice creativity out loud know) is this: You learn how to separate. You just do. Over time.

And once you have chiseled your "self" away from your work, it's a beautiful thing.

You are free.

Creative Process - Making It Real (despite technical ability)

As we discussed last week, Making it Real is the final step in the creative process. It’s where your Inspiration & Insight are transformed into a final “product” – your creation.  

But what happens when you have great ideas, brilliant insights, but not the technical ability to pull them off? My guess is that this belief stops many of us from going forward – it may even prevent us from pursuing a creative endeavor we are very interested in – whether that’s painting, decorating our homes, creating a sculpture for our gardens or writing a poem. If we lack so-called talent, we can get stuck at Making it Real. We become someone who has thousands of great ideas that never see the light of day.

The question is: How can we get around the talent and technical ability conundrum and get our ideas out into the world in concrete form?

In general, there are two paths around talent and technical ability roadblocks. The first path is about allowing help. The second path is about allowing imperfection.

Allowing Help Many famous artists have a team of people with the technical ability to execute their work. Many authors with ideas for a book hire ghostwriters to write for them. Editors, craftspeople, woodworkers, seamstresses, painters, framers, mechanics, social media experts, personal shoppers, designers, brainstorming partners, etc., all work in tandem with creators everyday to execute ideas that are not their own. The point is there is NOTHING WRONG with getting help with the execution and production of your ideas. When you bring your idea to another person for help, it does not make the creation any less yours. And, often, it’s the smartest, fastest, most reliable way to ensure your creations come to life and have the chance to impact others. The idea that we have to do everything ourselves when it comes to creative endeavors is just plain ridiculous. Just as we hire specialists to help in other areas of our lives, why not hire specialists to help with producing our creations? If you have an idea that you’d like to see produced, but you find yourself saying “I don’t have the technical ability to create this the way I see it in my mind,” get help. Allow yourself the support you need to be brilliant. 

Allowing Imperfection All that said, there is also great value in creating in a way that allows for imperfection. For one thing, it is practice. Very few of us are born a savant in certain area of creativity. We work at getting good. We keep going even though our hand-crafted table is crooked or we loose control over our paintings. We serve dinner at our crooked table and hang our crazy painting anyway. And then, we move on to our next creation. Each time, we get better. Or we don’t. But either way, we are allowing ourselves to enjoy the creative process from start to finish. I’ve told you before that I love to paint. I have no intention of becoming good at it. I just love coming up with ideas for paintings and creating them. I’m not going to take a class. I’m not going to paint every day to hone my skill. So, my commitment to myself around painting has to be to allow for my work to suck – and still be proof of my talent. Each painting is an idea. And that idea is pure and good no matter what the finished piece looks like. If you love creating and you lack technical ability, think about making a similar commitment to yourself. Allow yourself to Make it Real without frustration, knowing that at the core of whatever is produced is your amazing idea. Right there, at the core of the iambic pentameter gone awry; right there, at the core of the roux that never thickened; right there, at the core of the lumpy bumpy vase – is you. 

To crazy creations that are proof of the creativity at the core of us,

Susan B. (formerly Susan O.)

 

Creative Process - Making Ideas Real

Making it Real is the final step in the creative process. It’s where the creator takes her or his ideas from the Inspiration & Insight step and begins to see where they can go. And it’s where the big idea becomes real: The song or poem is written. Clay turns to sculpture. Ingredients become meal.

Even though Make it Real is the final work step. It’s also an exploration step in that the creator may be playing out several ideas to discover which ones work and which ones don’t.

Whereas there are no judgments in the Sponge Work step, only slight judgments in the In the Flow step, and varying degrees of both judgment and non-judgment in the Inspiration & Insight step, in the Make it Real step, there is judgment for certain. But what the creator has to watch out for is judgment that’s coming from the wrong place.

In general, there are two “wrong” places judgment during Make it Real can come from: others and a saboteur-ridden creator.

Judgment from Others: Even though Make it Real is about finishing an idea, turning it into something tangible, hang-able, eatable, readable, etc., it’s also a process. The finished painting is not going to look so wonderful and finished in the early stages of making it real. It may not even look so wonderful during the last 15 minutes. Show “others” (the wrong others) your creation early in the Make it Real step and one thing is highly likely: The “other” is not going to be able to see your vision, and because of that, they are also likely to judge your unfinished creation unfairly, causing you to doubt your work. At this point in the creative process, it is vital to guard your creation – with claws and fangs if necessary – from others that have the potential to cause you to kill your own idea. Or, if you are a creative professional and they are your boss, to kill it themselves before it has a chance to become brilliant.

That said, there are two instances when it’s safe to share what you are making real with another person:

1. When the “other” is a pure of heart creator too; a kind mentor; someone who is good at visioning where a work is going and is a person you trust; or someone who is simply your total fan (for times in the creative process when you are dying to hear “Wow! You are amazing!” – a statement which I am a fan of seeking out. After all, the authentic cheerleaders in our lives give us strength, and no matter how Polyannish a cynical observer might our cheerleaders are being, in truth, we are amazing. Simple as that. Good cheerleaders who’s wow’s come from the wisdom that there is only magnificence to be found in each of us, deliver authentic love and support. There is no doubt in our minds that the wow is real. It’s easy to tell the difference. I feel lucky to have a handful of fantastic cheerleaders in my life and I’ll tell you, if you want to stir up and express your creativity at a louder level, good cheerleaders are worth finding.
2. When you are strong in general. When you believe in yourself and your ideas and know that the world is full of nay-sayers and that they do not have absolute truth about the viability of your work; when you are skilled at hearing criticism without allowing penetration; when you are able to toss what you don’t agree with in the trash without hesitation and without allowing it to fester into a big ball of doubt later, then you can share. Which leads to the second instance when it’s not such a great idea to share your great ideas too early in the Make it Real step.

Judgment from Saboteur-Ridden Creators: When your internal creativity saboteur is running amok (even if you are saboteur-free most of the time), avoid sharing your work like you would avoid a dark alley packed with gang members. This is not an over statement. Internal saboteurs are not cute little negativity monsters. They carry harmful weapons. They have the power to literally kill pieces of us. They stop us dead in our tracks and keep us away from our most powerful selves. Although their evolutionary purpose is to keep us safe from harm, we just don’t need their brand of safety today. Especially around our creativity. If you are working on navigating your internal creativity saboteur, be your own best bodyguard. Don’t share your work early. Create in peace. Allow your ideas to become FULLY realized before they are shared. Consciously protect yourself – and know that there’s a difference between the auto-pilot kind of keeping self safe and the conscious kind. The conscious kind is an empowered choice to give yourself the gift of a safe and courageous space in which to stretch yourself. It is not playing it safe, it’s playing it smart. You also want to guard your work from other creators who are, themselves, saboteur ridden. The critique you get is likely to come directly from their internal saboteur. The judgments will be more about the other creator than about your creation.

So, what’s the “right” place to allow judgment to come from during Make it Real? Obviously, from you. But not just any version of you. It needs to come from one of two versions of you. Either the most objective and saboteur-free you, or from the kindest, most self-loving you.

If you are a practiced creator, the objective you is likely the choice. But if you are working on expressing your creativity for the first few times, the kind, loving, forgiving, easy-going, non-perfectionist version of you is the one to pull out. This you will allow your creation to live even if it’s not “perfect.” It will be proud of you no matter what. It will want to hang up your painting, play your song, eat your falling apart sushi roll with gusto.

There is nothing wrong with imperfection in creativity. Your most self-loving self knows that what is important is not the quality of your creation, but the fact that you created. All over my house is my own artwork. None of it is “quality” in the sense of technique. All of it is brilliant to my self-loving self. Thrilled to be on display; thrilled to be seen. Thrilled to be proof of the creative force that lies within me – and everyone else.

Next time: More on the Make it Real step - The talent aspect and how to work with and around it.

To making your big ideas real,

Susan B. (formerly Susan O.)

Creative Process - Getting the Big Idea

Today, we are on third and probably the most coveted step in the Creative Process – Inspiration & Insight.

As we’ve discussed, Inspiration & Insight is so coveted, even craved, that a lot of us skip the first two steps (Sponge Work & In the Flow) and start our creative projects searching for, seeking out and trying desperately hard to have THE BIG IDEA.

Certainly, it can seem, from both the inside and the outside, that big ideas just happen. Even more, that they just happen to some people. The lucky ones who are creative. And I won’t deny that it can just happen – sometimes.

But more likely, when big ideas do just happen, the creator has been either doing Sponge Work and spending time In the Flow naturally, as part of who they are, or unconsciously, in that they are doing sponge- and in the flow-like activities, but have not named it that.

For example: I read a passage in a book that strikes a big idea for one of my clients. The idea came out of nowhere. It just hit me. But the fact is that my reading in the first place was unconscious Sponge Work and my mind focused both on the book I’m reading and on other things – like my client – was me being In the Flow.

The reality is that inspiration, by definition, comes from some something – internal or external. And insight, by definition, is the “ah-ha” conscious connection that makes us say, “I’ve got an idea!” It took some kind of “work” to get there. Whether that work was hard or easy; conscious or unconscious.

The Inspiration and Insight step is interesting because it belongs in a category by itself, but flows out of In the Flow and into Make it Real – the final step. It straddles the line. It is both its own finite step AND it’s got feet in the steps around it.

As a step in itself, Inspiration & Insight is a build up of creative energy, plus an eye-opening moment in the creative process – “moments” if you’re having a string of insights. Creators typically don’t stop In the Flow and say, “I’m moving to Inspiration & Insight now.” Instead, inspiration occurs from In the Flow and tells you that you are now in the Inspiration & Insight step.

As with many parts of the creative process, there is a potential trap here. A trap that can trigger the, “Oh, see, I’m not creative after all. I can’t make anything work!” response.

Because inspiration feels the way it does – like you are on fire with creativity (which you are) – it can be easy to grab an inspiration from the first part of the step and begin to create the final outcome. That is OKAY! No rules here. But when you do this, before having the big ah-ha (the insight), ideas tend to get slippery. Even fall apart as you begin to make them real. At some point, you’ll need both the inspiration and the insight to make it real.

One way to look at it: Inspiration signals the beginning of the Inspiration & Insight step and insight signals the end. Inspiration tells you that you are onto something – or a lot of somethings. Insight tells you that you’ve got “it” – that it’s time to take “it” and Make “it” Real. When your inspiration has lead to an insight, the idea you take into Make it Real has a better chance of staying solid and growing stronger, not weaker, from there. It is a fully realized inspired insight and, therefore, easier to work with. The trick is to stay with inspiration until you get the insight – the clue to what you will do with your inspired thoughts, chords, clay, etc. – and, then, you make it real.

What most of us know about Inspiration & Insight is that it often happens at the wrong time. While driving, while in the shower, while on the StairMaster, while walking in a meadow with nary a pen in sight. There’s a biological and physiological reason for this. A different part of the brain opens up during these activities. Our mind has been actively engaged in Sponge Work and In the Flow, we move on to something mindless, and, as a result, our mind becomes more.

The wonderful part of this step – getting the big ah-ha – is that we are often compelled by a force bigger than ourselves to get take our ah-ha to the next level. To create an actual creation.

If we are unpracticed at allowing and claiming our inherent creativity, we can also be hit by the hard baseball bat of an internal saboteur at this point. We are on fire. We have THE BIG IDEA. We hear a voice: That’s stupid.

That will never work. You don’t have the skill to pull that off. Who are you to think so big?

That voice simply requires a little saboteur management. You don’t even need to shut it up, you simply need to navigate around it. In fact, trying to make saboteurs disappear is darn useless. If you accept them as part of the creative process – if you know that the bigger and better your insight the more likely your saboteurs are going to have something to say about it – then you can use their appearance as proof you are going in the right direction.

For more on internal saboteurs, read Tips & Trick for Navigating Your Internal Saboteurs.

In this week’s blog post, I’m going to repeat this article, but add a few bullet points at the end – the exceptions, a little “how-to” and, most of all, I’m hoping you’ll share your inspiration and insight about Inspiration & Insight.

Where are you when your big ideas come? Have you had the experience of watching your inspiration go slippery? How do you know it’s time to create?

To beautiful big ideas that we work for,

Susan B. (formerly Susan O.)    

NOTE: Above I wrote "Creators typically don’t stop In the Flow and say, “I’m moving to Inspiration & Insight now.” AND (per the typically) sometimes they do. We're going to cover the "choice" aspect that exists in the creative process (both for all creators and for creative professionals) after we move through the four steps - plus creativity tools to help along the way - AND an inside look into the creative process at the hilarious newspaper, The Onion.

Creative Process - How to get In the Flow

In the Flow is the second step in the creative process (Sponge Work, In the Flow, Insight & Inspiration, Make it Real).

Like Sponge Work, it's a critical "work" step. It's the point in the process where the creator begins to "play with" all the fodder they have collected from being sponge and make connections, shape ideas, expand thinking and even judge ideas - keeping some, eliminating others.

In the Flow is critical because from this step comes: THE BIG IDEA (inspiration and insight).

What tends to shut down the creative process and also what causes many people to scream, "I can't do this. I'm not creative," is that they skip the In the Flow step completely (or spend very little in it) and try to force the big idea either right away or far too early in the process. 

It can seem like "creative types" just magically get the big idea - that they pull the big idea from nowhere. But where they are pulling it from is both the Sponge Work they've done and their time In the Flow.

So, what is the "how-to" of In the Flow?

In an article posted today in the WomanTalk Live eNewsletter, I shared that one of the tricks to In the Flow is simply endurance. Playing with thoughts, words, chords, clay, whatever long enough that the big idea is able to develop.

Following are a few more In the Flow tricks - ways of getting and staying in the flow. What I'd love is for you to share yours in a comment to this post.

Tricks & Tips for Getting and Staying In the Flow

Trick #1: Environment

One of the most often overlooked tricks to In the Flow is making sure your environment is supportive of creating and sustaining the flow. For me, music is a valuable tool for getting in the flow and I use certain mixes to support certain kinds of creative engergy depending on the project I'm working on. I don't use music while I'm actually doing the work of In the Flow. I use it to prepare. To get in the mood.

The physical space you are in can also either support or distract from being and staying In the Flow. In fact, distractions like people, noise, clutter, a visible "to-do" list, can all prevent the creator from being able to tune out the outside world and focus on the creative project at hand. For me, a "creative" and CLEAN space is vital. The place where I work is inspiring - to me. It's white on white and it's fun. In many ways, my physical space itself is a blank canvas - the whiteness of it supports that. But it's also filled with inspiration. A few of my paintings, acceptance letters I've received for poetry - even some great and inspiring rejection letters. Plus, some ads I love, letters from my husband - anything that makes me feel creative and loved.

Think about your environment. What supports you in preparing to get in the flow. Music? A conversation on the phone with the friend who champions you best? Flipping through an art book? The trick is to notice what inspires you in general - what pumps you up or what grounds you in the rest of your life - and consciously use that as prep for In the Flow.

Think about your physical space. Do you love it? Does it make you feel expansive or shut down? Does it put pressure on you or relieve you from pressure? Does it inspire you? I feel strongly that it is worth it (not wasted energy) to spend time creating your creative space.

Trick #2: Freeing the Mind

Getting into a mental space (free from your inner critic) where you can think "outside the box" can be helpful for getting in the flow. For me, doing improv (yes, alone!) is a great way to free myself from the inner critic. I do the alphabet game by myself. I think of a scene, two characters and play both parts. So are "morning papers" as suggested in The Artist's Way. This is more of a clearing trick and can be a wonderful way to get all the clutter of thoughts out of your head. To do morning papers (in the morning or anytime), get a blank page and a pen and just start writing in stream of consciousness style. Don't edit. Don't perfect. Just keep writing until you are done. You will know when you are.

Staying in the mental space of expansive thinking is about self management. Both around regaining focus when distracted AND around navigating the internal saboteurs that appear at various points during In the Flow.

Trick #3: Using Creativity Tools

Creativity tools is going to be a future blog post all in itself, so for now I'm just going to discuss tools in general - and we'll dive deeper a few posts down the road. Creative professionals and anyone who expresses their creativity on a regular basis is likely familiar with the vast array of tools available to foster greater creativity - and especially expansive thinking. Googling "creativity tools" is a great place to start. You will find many of the tools I'll be sharing through that search. The key with tools is to trust the tool. To fully use it. To not sell it short because the big idea doesn't come right away. In In the Flow, creativity tools are simply methods of playing with ideas to expand and connect them; to generate additional thinking - especially, new ways of thinking. I fought using creative tools for a long, long time until I had an experience with one specific tool that turned an idea my creative partner and I were playing with into something we never would have thought of on our own, and that we never would have thought of together if we were brainstorming in the traditional way. The tool is called "Yes, And ..." and, again, I'm going to devote an entire post (or two) on creativity tools as soon as we finish the two final steps in the creative process.

It may sound simple, but with Environment, Mind and Tools ALONE you will be primed for getting and staying In the Flow. Under each category, there are countless methods, but the "big idea" behind In the Flow is knowing that these three ingredients are all you need to facilitate the In the Flow step.

Your environment is supportive and inspiring, your mind is free and open, and your ideas have a gym full of tools designed to help them become stronger.

The final piece of the In the Flow puzzle is about the feeling of In the Flow. In the WomanTalk Live article I referenced above, I shared that In the Flow can feel like staring at a blank wall or banging your head against it - but there is a point in the process where an almost magical feeling of connection occurs. It doesn't feel like work anymore. Instead it feels like an experience of heightened awareness. It is very likely that you have experienced the flow feeling in relation to creativity and that I don't have to describe it to you. But if you haven't, you can experience that feeling in all sorts of areas of life. In conversation, in sports, in love making. In the Flow is everywhere.

All it requires is presence.

 

Creative Process - How to Be a Sponge

To WomanTalk Live eNewsletter "Spark Factory" readers: Thanks for coming - just skim down the post for the "how-to" of sponge life - right after the paragraph in bold.

A few weeks ago, we begin exploring the four basic steps of the creative process (which I called Sponge Work, In the Flow, Inisght & Inspiration and Make it Real). So, now, let's dive into each step a little further - starting with being a sponge.

From the broadest perspective, Sponge Work happens in two very different broad ways:

First, being a sponge is simply a way of being in the world – all the time or at many times. It’s a mindset of openness and a commitment to noticing and allowing stream of consciousness generally in your life, and for the purpose of discovering creative fodder broadly and expanding creative horizons across the board. In this case, the sponge (YOU) is not picky. It may be attracted to certain areas or interests, but it has no specific plan and it is open to all of it – to the whole big experience of life, and to the thoughts and connections that spring from observations, interactions and all sensory and intellectual input.

Second, being a sponge is a conscious decision to adopt this same mindset and commitment, but in relation to something specific like a project or a goal. In this case, the Sponge (YOU) is less general. So, even though it remains open to the whole experience of life and absorbs many things, it actively targets specific areas, means of inspiration and interests. It seeks to absorb, expose itself to and ponder experiences and input within select oceans – the oceans the sponge believes have the right nutrients to spark, develop and expand fodder specifically related to the project or goal.  

The big questions around each of these spongy paths are: how to be open; how to absorb; how to allow for new connections; how to encourage inspiration. In other words, what to do, think and feel specifically; and how to get in touch with and be guided by your inner sponge.

Whether you are experimenting with being sponge-like most of the time, or are taking on sponginess for the purposes of a creative project, there are several keys to the "being" of spongeness. They are:

Awareness/Noticing, Allowing/Openess and Curiousity

Awareness/Noticing is what it sounds like - but the trick is to shoot for awareness on all levels. To notice everything: What you are seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling (both physically and emotionally); what's happening in your mind, body and spirt. Here's an excercise for growing your awareness and noticing skills  - I do this for lots of reasons around creativity, but also for honing my skills as coach:

Awareness/Noticing Exercise - The Global Check-In: 5 times per day conduct a Global Check-In. Setting an alarm on your watch or cell phone can help you remember. When your Global Check-In alarm goes off, stop and notice everything. What do you see? What's happening in your body? Where is your attention? What smells and sounds are around you? Shift your position and notice what changes. What do you see from here? What changed in your body? What is happening right in front of you? A few yards away? Above all, what are you feeling inside? What emotions come up during your Global Check-In. It's not that I can promise what will happen if you do this for one week. But something will happen. Even if you are highly aware normally; even if you tend to notice everything; the concsiousness called forth during a Global Check-In will have an affect.

Allowing/Openess is the practice of not pushing back whatever comes up as you become aware and notice. It's about allowing things, people, experiences, thoughts and feelings to emerge in full form. It's about being open to whatever shows up and going with it. Here's an exercise on allowing/openess that, for me, reduces stress on the spot, and also as a poet and a writer helps me navigate my internal saboteurs - the voices that will stop me from putting the full and raw truth on the page; the voices that will stop me from fulling experiencing the uncomfortable emotions that ultimately become my best work, but only if I can fully feel them and, through that experience, fully realize them on the page.

Allowing/Openess Excercise - Control Freak Vacation: A Control Freak Vacation is making the conscious decision to not have to control anything that is happening within and around you. One or more times a day for one week, take a Control Freak Vacation at a random times. You can determine those times at the start of the week, but the idea is to include variety by scheduling your Control Freak Vacation at a different time each day - perhaps one day it will be in the morning as you're getting ready for work and the next it will be while you're driving. It's great if a couple of your Control Freak Vacations can happen while you are at work (even better in a meeting or conversation). At the given time - NO MATTER WHAT IS HAPPENING - let go and go with. If you are in a meeting and someone is talking and you feel like you just must jump in, don't. See what happens. If you're driving and you accidentally miss your turn, keep going and follow your intuition. If you're scrambling because you're late getting ready for work, stop struggling and just be with what is. Most importantly, whatever you are feeling emotionally at the time of your Control Freak Vacation, go all the way with it. Don't shut it down. If you're sad, stay with the sadness. If you start to cry, cry. If you start laughing because you are crying, laugh. Just don't re-direct your attention. Don't try to contron the situation. Stay with the flow of things, rather than creating dams that direct the flow. 

Curiosity: This part of Sponge Work is simply wondering about what you are aware of and noticing, and wondering about what you are allowing and open to. But it's wondering beyond the first cocked head and raised eyebrow. It's about staying with what you are curious about and exploring it fully. Being curious is the key to so many wonder-ful things. For anyone out there who is a coach, you know that being curious is really the ENTIRE DEAL. And that getting people curious about themselves is the open door to their greatness which has much to do with their inherent creativity. In terms of Sponge Work specifically, curiosity has the effect of turning your Alive-O-Meter to 11; of engaging you completely in life and in the moment. And, of course, curiosity is a huge part of idea development later down the road. But for Sponge Work purposes, curiosity allows you add new dimensions to everything you see, feel, hear, smell, etc., so that one thing becomes many as you explore it from various angles and perspectives.

Curiosity Excercise - Deep Space Diving: Pick a space. A BORING space. And an UNEXPLORED space. You will have been in the space before, but it's a space you don't spend curious time in. A coat closet. The interior of your car. Under your desk at work. Whatever. Just choose that space get into or in front of it, and get curious about it. Become aware of and notice everything, allow and be open to what comes, and start to wonder. Let your FOCUSED mind go. Stay there for a full 15 minutes. After you are done, debrief yourself. What happened? What did notice about the ebb and flow of your curiosity? Then, with what you've learned from this experience now fully integrated, take Deep Space Diving on the road. Again, once a day for one week, select one 5-minute period and fully immerse yourself in getting curious about wherever you are currently, whatever you are doing, whatever is around you.

So, those are just a few ways to increase Sponge Work skills and to practice being a sponge. As I mentioned above, sponginess is both a way of being in general (and you can use it to gather general fodder to fuel your creative fire), and also about making a conscious to choice to be a sponge within certain parameters related to a specific creative project. For example: becoming aware, open to and curious about all things dogs because you are writing a story about dogs.  

Just remember that Sponge Work is work. It's doing research, but with a "sponge mindset" so that you are more deeply aware, significantly more open to and wildly curious about what you explore.

There's a poem I created almost completely after being a sponge at a random time: 

I was driving down a busy road and decided to become totally aware. I saw a possum trying to cross the street. I become so, so deeply sad and I opened up to and followed the sadness. I begin to wonder about the possum, about why we build so many roads, about the relationship between man and nature, about responsiblity - and I noticed, and felt so strongly, all the reasons why sometimes it hurts too much to look, the reasons for denial and rationalization. I thought about the poingnacy of small fragile things (us too) and what we HAVE TO make up about them and us:

What We Made Up

what we saw:

possum

crossing the road

not a car slowing down

to usher him by

how unbearable to be here

sometimes

how heartbreaking

every moment

what we did:

came to a crawl

endured honking assaults

monitored the crossing

(which was iffy)

a back and forth roulette

with no amount of telepathy

seeming to help

finally

we moved on

as everybody else

what we made up:

possum crossed

fathered other possums

was happy all the days

of his possumy life

crossing roads with

abandon

not looking back

and we don't look back either

and that will mean

we know it for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Creative Tangent

A few weeks ago, we begin to look at the four steps of the Creative Process. We were about to take an even closer look at the “how-to” of each. (If you missed the blog post that defined each of the four steps, you can read it now.) But today, I’m going to go on a short creative tangent and come back to creative process next week.

I’ve been unable to post for the last few weeks because of the death of the very first person who told me I was creative. My mother.

I want to honor my mom in this first post back because she was an example of the ability we all have to overcome our internal creative saboteurs and just plain create – despite doubt, despite anxiety and despite the ability to stand high on the mountain top and scream out, “I AM CREATIVE.” 

Although she expressed her creativity all her life in many ways, her primary passion was for architecture. In her 40s and 50s, she became a miniaturist. She made the most exquisite dollhouses you can imagine.

And, yet, if you told her she was creative, she bluntly denied it. In a way that revealed, that for her, it was just a fact. But even with that denial, her internal saboteur was powerless to stop her from creating. If you talked to her not about creativity, but about what she created, about her process, about what she was imagining, she could go on forever.

My mom grew up a tomboy in the deep south. She wanted to play with tools and was given dolls. Her creativity was not nurtured by anyone on the outside. But like many, she nurtured it herself. Despite herself. Quietly.

I’ve written before that claiming our inherent creativity matters. I believe that when we do, we give others permission to do the same. I still believe that. But in grieving my mother, I’ve realized there is another way. The way of example.

There has never been a doubt in my mind that my mother was anything but creative. Her words to the contrary were puny in comparison to her miniature masterpieces – and to her countless creations of love that flowed through my life. 

If we simply create, if we have the guts to put our love and passion out there, all our nay-saying, all our internal doubts, are meaningless. They are overshadowed by the glory of our creations. What is in our minds and hearts that we make real, is the truth of us. The passion we hold inside is mightier than the saboteur.

And, if we do feed our fire, if we are driven despite our fears to simply create, if we have courage, then our creativity speaks for itself. We will inspire those we love, and those we don’t even know.

What I learned from my mother is that it’s okay to doubt yourself, as long as you move forward anyway. You can squawk all you want about your shortcomings, as long as you act despite them. You are creative, without ever saying you are creative.

If you have heart, if you care about what you are creating, you don’t have to scream from the mountaintop. You can simply move mountains.

To those who inspire by example,

Susan B. (formerly Susan O.)