Practice Creativity
By: Maria Grace

Imagine someone asking you How many hours a week do you spend working or What do you do you are likely to answer something like I am a fulltime student and I work parttime at a department store or I am a fulltime mom of three boys or I am a professor or I am a computer analyst etc. Your answer describes the daily routine of what you do for a living which is a job that gives you income a social identity a certain professional status and sometimes public recognition. However rewarding very often a job includes duties tasks and requirements that we are obliged to perform whether we like them or not. Our freedom to do only what we like in our job is almost always limited. This is a main reason why so many people suffer from jobrelated dissatisfaction and see their work as the necessary evil they must endure in exchange for a monthly paycheck.

Now imagine someone asking you How many hours a week do you spend creating something that gives you joy or Do you have a creative habit that helps you handle stress Think of your answer: you may take a little longer to give a reply and when you do you may say something like: Hmm you know Id like to be creative but truth is Im too tired or Well Id love to have some time for creativity but Im too busy with other things or It would be awesome to have a creative habit but thats a luxury for the rich and I have bills to pay or Me creative But Im not an artist I am an office manager!

If your answer to the question about creativity resembles any of the answers above it is high time you changed your attitude toward your ability to be creative. In this chapter you will be introduced to a number of mythic characters and real people who consider creativity not as a luxury but their birthright. The truth is that we are all born with the ability to be creative just as we are born with the ability to think dream and imagine. But while some of us continue to honor creativity throughout our lives and enjoy the benefits of a creative habit many others betray our creativity as we seek joy in habits that are not only noncreative but oftentimes selfdestructive.

The prices we pay when we stifle our right to be creative are as high as those we pay when we stifle our dreams. In my practice as a psychotherapist and coach the majority of clients complaining about feelings of depression insomnia panic attacks low selfesteem or sense of meaninglessness are the ones who ignore their dreams and their own creative impulses. Over the years I have helped a number of people reconnect with their natural ability to create watching them enjoy the benefits of their creativity: a recovered selfconfidence an improved ability to handle lifes daily stress freedom from depression and a sense of fulfillment that no medical treatment alone can ever catalyze.

As you are working through the fourth phase of this method it is essential that you experience the joy of developing and maintaining creative habits. Reconnecting with your creativity will allow you to be spontaneous and daring as you suspend judgment about the outcomes of your creative efforts. Your benefits from becoming creative will be a sense of sustained pleasure inner freedom and independence from other peoples approval. The more you allow yourself to be creative the more selfconfident you will be and the better you will like yourself.

CREATIVITY 101

To create means to cause to exist; to bring into being something that has never existed before. Everything created is first imagined. Therefore creativity is the human activity in which we use constructively our imagination by giving material form to our creative ideas. I In this context a creative person is not only prolific in ideas but also active in materializing creative ideas in the real world. This creative input enriches not only the individual life of the creator but also the world at large.

Creative people are not necessarily professional artists. They come from all walks of life and their creativity applies to all aspects of our civilization: they may be scientists discovering the hidden laws of the universe or new cures for terminal diseases; business people creating breakthrough opportunities in national economies; lawyers excelling in their field thanks to their creative problemsolving ideas; visionary politicians leading nations to freedom and prosperity; teachers creating innovative methods for the classroom; farmers creating breakthrough methods of farming or breeding; cooks creating culinary masterpieces or revolutionary cooking methods; administrators guiding organizations into success through creative leadership; police detectives solving mysteries and incarcerating criminals thanks to creative thinking. Age level of education and socioeconomic status do not matter: a creative person can be a child an adolescent an adult or a senior. He or she can be single or married divorced or widowed childless or with children. Individual differences may be unlimited. But there are three characteristics listed below that all creative people share in common which you must also develop as you work with this method:

a. Creative People Honor their Creative Impulses

Creative people know the relationship between creativity and productivity and they are careful to keep them in balance. They nurture their creative needs by taking the necessary time and space to access imagination and stimulate creative thinking. And they bring their creative ideas into fruition by being productive. They also honor their creativity by protecting and nurturing their ideas and by following a discipline that involves hard work concentration isolation unusual decisions sacrifices dedication to the creative purpose and trust in their inner voice. Nevertheless in spite of the demands of the creative process staying loyal to their creative pursuit is never a burden for creative people. The joy from seeing their completed creation is so pure that it redeems all the strenuous efforts exerted during the process.

Examples of movie characters portraying creative individuals abound. Some of them are introduced in this chapter. I encourage you to see the respective films and notice how different those characters are yet how similar in the way they honor their creative impulses. These characters represent simple people yearning for the joy of creating much as we all do. As you watch the films let them inspire you to reconnect with your own creativity and feel the joy that you see them experience in the films.

Working Girl is the story of a young womans determination to bring her creative ideas into fruition having to protect them from being appropriated by her boss. Tess McGill the main character is a thirtyyear old administrative assistant who lives in Staten Island and commutes every day to her wor