May 14, 2015
Creativity is the externalization of raw consciousness. After all the sensory, and perceptional inputs. After the torrents of thought, and self-realization. But, before those phenomenon are refined into rationality, and scientific reason, lies raw, unadulterated, consciousness. Creativity is the externalization of that internal reality.
There are not creative minds, and uncreative minds. There are only minds. Each with potential, and each with ability. There are, though, ways to call up that internal storm. There are strategies to tease it closer, until it intensifies into a usable flood of imagery and expression. It is our work, to understand our own selves well enough to stimulate then harness the impassioned hysteria within us.
The Creativity within Each of Us
From the physical surroundings like light, and temperature, to the people around us, our environments shape us. They can elevate our moods, or bring us down. They can send us into fight or flight, or they can coax us into subdued serenity.
However, we have an attribute quite unique in the world, at least in its scale, in our ability to change our environments rather than change to meet them. I have the option to sit indoors, and still let the bright sunlight engulf me through the window. When it is overcast, I can turn on all the lights I have, brightening the room, and reproducing the energized feeling the sun lends me. From the appearance of the space I work it, to the music I listen to, or usually lack thereof, I can shape my surroundings into an architected weave, self-designed to externally stimulate my internal mind into activity.
Still, self-understanding can take us even further, because as we learn, and utilize the pre-requisites to our creative process, as we implement them, they become habits in themselves. Once that happens the results synergistically increase one another through repetition, and expectation.
I discovered early on that walking, running, and physical exercise stimulated my thought processes when I have a block to writing. If I took a walk the ideas would begin to flow. However, with the insight came an expectation, and then it seemed the ideas came out of hiding even quicker.
The rituals we preform, such as the cup of coffee in our favorite spot to write, prime us to turn on our process. Like only sleeping in bed instead of also watching TV and eating, or having a desk where you only study, our routines specific to our creative activities tell our brains that that is what it is time to do.
As all the pieces come together, and we become better at calling up that frenzy to take advantage of, confidence grows. Being creative becomes easier than we think. With that comes the realization that creativity is not a trait to be had or not, but rather a part of all of us to be developed, strengthened, and expressed.
If you still feel fear and anxiety at the challenge, or naively decide that the proof that I am wrong about your creative potential is the current subpar quality of your efforts, watch this. It’s normal!
Within each of us lies a consciousness perhaps more complicated, and amazing than the whole of our external world. To bring our perceptions of the external through that intricacy, and express them back, is to show reality itself in the mirror.
-Michael Speck