Creatively Creative

Clutter Creep

I walked into my office one day last week to find this:

Desk? What desk? Oh, you mean that wooden thing holding up all the other crap, junk, and mess? Sheesh! No wonder I was stuck (again) in a particularly uncreative space.

I'm amazed at how quickly clutter accumulates. One or two pieces of mail to be filed later quickly becomes a stack six inches high. A bag full of miscellaneous stuff from the last out of town trip becomes a dust bunny magnet. Those cool Ikea shelves for CDs become the landing pad for Nextflix red envelopes, old check books, and all the other stuff that will get put in it's right place "someday." 

For me, there was something very unsettling and uncomfortable working in this clutter (of my own making). So, time for some spring cleaning, reorganizing and clutter clean up. 

Four or so hours later...

Ahhhhh! Much better! The clutter is gone (believe it or not I DO use all that "stuff" just about every day), and as a bonus, I discovered a bag of fun-sized Peanut M&M's left over from Halloween. 

The lesson learned for me should be to take the two to three minutes each time to put stuff where it belongs and keep on top of the clutter rather than letting it slowly creep up on me and getting in the way of my creative "vibe." 

Of course, the mental clutter is a whole other story...

What is cluttering (literally and figuratively) up your life and getting in the way of your creativity? What habits can you change or start to help you better deal with clutter creep?

The Blank Page

There are two ways to look at a blank page:

1. It's the scariest thing ever. Where do I even start?
2. It's the most incredible opportunity ever. There are only opportunities.  

I believe strongly that attitude is a crucial component of creativity. A negative attitude will negatively impact creativity. Ideas will be dismissed before they're given a fair chance at life, ideas "not invented here" are ignored and "good enough" becomes acceptable. 

On the other hand, a positive attitude has a positive impact on creativity. Ideas are given a chance to breathe and and have every option explored, all sources of ideas are welcome, and the only acceptable outcome is "perfect fit."

Getting to the place where you eagerly anticipate the (literal or figurative) blank page is a process. There's lots of factors that can get in the way of this process such as: toxic work environment,  personal health, and high stress in the rest of your life. Some of those factors you can control and others you cannot. But, you can adjust your attitude to how those external factors affect your attitude. As with most processes, not every step needs to be a step forward, but the goal is for there to be more steps towards the goal than away from it.

Embrace the blank page. It's here where you have opportunities. It's here where the possibilities are endless. It's here where you will make an impact.

What's your attitude towards the blank page? What is one thing you can to improve your attitude towards the blank page?

The Paradox(es) of Creativity

I find I'm most creative when:

• I have plenty of time or no time at all
• I'm in a great mood or really terrible mood 
• I know the project backwards and forwards or when I'm brand new to the material  
• I'm wide awake or really sleepy 
• I'm bored or inspired 
• I'm working on the first idea or the 87th idea  

In other words, I'm most creative at the extremes. The edges provide the inspiration, energy, and insight that creativity requires. The ends of the spectrum are where the self-editing walls come down and delight is found. In the absence of gray, the answers are clearest.

But just like the normal distribution curve of statistics, the in-between covers the largest area between the ends. So, how do I get to the ends authentically, without drama, without trickery?  

It's mostly in my head.

An attitude of anticipation towards the project, where I can't wait to see what I come up with, plays a huge role in moving me closer to the edges where I'm most creative. Getting there has taken time. And persistence. And learning how to gauge my creative mood swings. When the moment's not right for creativity, that's a great time for paperwork and chores, or for tuning into my inspirational sources. 

"Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born everyday; to feel a sense of self." Erich Fromm

When do you find you're most creative? How do you get yourself to that space, if you're not already there?