2 minute read

In my therapy practice, I often meet people who have so much creative potential and desire to develop it, nevertheless, everyday life and work don’t permit them. I call them artists without a craft.

Just as rebels without a cause, these artists feel the desire to create but usually don’t know where to start. But being creative doesn’t mean that you are a genius in some artistic field.

In order to be creative, you don’t even have to be talented or extraordinarily skilled, you don’t have to devote your life to some art. You just need to stimulate your thought and senses in less conventional ways.

Even if the goal is personal improvement or improvement in the way you present your business, creativity-enhancing practices are the core of the development of autotelic personality – a way of perceiving learning, working, and creating not as means, but as a goal and enjoyment.

This is how you can do it:

1. 1. Take notes – anytime anywhere, on a napkin or receipt, on a train ticket… it doesn’t matter if you keep them afterward, but if you wish to keep them, you can write a diary or collect some short stories that come to your mind. It is important to stimulate yourself to express in words ideas and feelings and transmit them on paper.
   2. Make things with your hands – whatever you wish or you feel like doing. The result is also not so important. Just spend 30-40 minutes every day actually creating something. There is always something! You are invited to a birthday – pack the gift beautifully yourself! Something at your home is broken – try to fix it! Draw a postcard or make a collage if you can’t draw! Make yourself a paper hat and paint the ceiling! Cook! The bottom line is that the more you do, the more you feel like doing it, and at some point, you will find something you enjoy a lot.
   3. Break the routine! Try to organize your life in a way that at least twice every month you do something you have never done before. You can visit a new town, a new country or a museum. You can try a new hobby or a new sport. Try to meet new creative people, and exchange ideas.
   4. Daydream! Daydreaming is when you let your thoughts flow freely without censuring them during any sort of activity. Some people manage to do this during meditation, and some people do it during analytical psychotherapy, it doesn’t really matter how you do it, but you need to leave some space for your thoughts to get manifested. You can think about your goals and dreams, your past, your feelings, etc. You need to be relaxed and let it happen without focusing too much on one thought. You even don’t have to dedicate some extra time to it. I do it when I ride in the metro – I just stare through the window in the dark and think about myself.
   5. Keep a dialogue with your body! First, you have to be physically active. Pay attention to the nice sensations when you eat or during sex, and try to really understand what you love and why. When you are in pain try to relax and understand it, try to express it with words or images. Take up yoga, dancing, or some sport like rock climbing, fitness, etc. Focus on the sensations produced in every muscle.

The success will be guaranteed if you try all of these techniques to increase your creative side and get familiar with your feelings and sensations. I also believe that this will make you happier, especially if you share some of these special moments with your family and friends.

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