Tracking inspiration is one of the easiest ways to ensure you have quality ideas for a creativity kick-start when your flow is feeling low and slow. With a busy life, inspiration often visits you at what I like to call the “in-between” times; during a walk, shower or while you drift off daydreaming over lunch. So before the “creative tingles” float off, what tools do you use to make sure you capture its essence? With so many high-tech AND low-tech tools to choose from, it’s not … [Read more...]
Spring Attitude Review and Letting Go
March 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Spring is synonymous with new beginnings, which often means letting go of something old and outdated. Instead of cleaning out the junk drawer or pawing through the huge stack of boxes in the garage, why not do an “attitude review” instead? Old attitudes can be like a bad rash that only flares up in the heat. Normally it’s dormant and you go about your life as usual. Then... someone says or does something that fires up a surprisingly emotional response, sending you into a tailspin. By the time … [Read more...]
Honoring the Birth and Death Cycle of Creativity
March 19, 2014 By 4 Comments
The circle of creation and destruction is a daily ritual that starts with the sunrise and ends with the sunset. Each day, every single person on the planet has the opportunity to create, nurture and then lay something to rest. During this same 24-hour cycle also lies the opportunity to honor the creation and destruction cycle within yourself. This circle of renewal and release can sound a bit ominous, but it happens all the time without you putting much thought into … [Read more...]
Weekly Creativity Kick-Start: Listen to New Music
March 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Music can be one of the best ways to fuel a creativity kick-start when you are feeling out of ideas or gearing up to tackle a big project. And while your trusty music library full of carefully cultivated playlists and old favorites can help do the trick, there is something about checking out new music that can infuse fresh energy into your creative attitude. As an equal opportunity employer when it comes to music, I’m open to listening to anything once. When those first few notes … [Read more...]
Are you Creating Boundaries or Self-Imposed Limitations?
March 13, 2014 By Leave a Comment
As someone who used to have very thin boundaries and lot’s of self-imposed limitations, these two heavy hitters often get confused more often than you think. Word-wise the difference seems obvious. Boundaries are defined as self-protective, and limitations are defined as rules and restrictions. Whether you jump into creating a boundary or a limitation as a reflex is determined in those powerful moments when you sense things are getting uncomfortable, or as if your reputation and value may be … [Read more...]
Weekly Creativity Kick-Start: Volunteer for a Cause that Speaks to your Heart
March 10, 2014 By Leave a Comment
It’s easy to get caught up in routines to give your life structure, but creativity has it’s own path and flow, striking when something speaks to your heart. The creative spark isn’t a planned event, but an emotionally engaging one with unique triggers that set your inner fire in motion. So if you are feeling a bit stuck and stale or struggling to get in touch with your inspiration, why not volunteer to expand your heart and fire up a creativity kick-start through volunteering? Creativity Starts … [Read more...]
Balancing Tension Between Productivity and Creative Flow
March 6, 2014 By 2 Comments
Productivity is a common benchmark for determining perceived value in the world of work, but while ticking items off a to-do list can feel fulfilling, using the same approach to measure the value of your creative flow falls flat. That’s why you may sometimes feel a sense of underlying tension around expressing yourself creatively - there’s no set way to determine the value of the effort. You just need to trust the act of creating is valuable, and that can feel awkward for people used to more … [Read more...]
Weekly Creativity Kick-Start: Clear Out Online Clutter
March 3, 2014 By Leave a Comment
In the digital age, online clutter and can pile up faster than a storm dumping snow in the mountains of Colorado. Online clutter can also easily start messing with your creative flow, especially if you are faced with old emails, contacts and never ending spam each time you get in front of the computer. If you find that your energy seems zapped more than usual after you’ve been on the computer and you are unable to focus, it might be time to do a bit of online spring cleaning for a creativity … [Read more...]
Tips for Tapping into your Inner Creative Advisor
February 27, 2014 By 2 Comments
In the thick of a challenge it’s easy to forget you have the best, most informed ally in your own back pocket - your inner creative advisor. Not only does this advisor know you better than anyone else, but understands the deepest, rawest, real-est parts of you and the tricks you use to avoid feeling certain things. So while objective insight from others you trust is absolutely enlightening, do you still struggle with trusting your own insight, first? By my definition, the term inner … [Read more...]
Weekly Creativity Kick-Start: Break One of your Own Rules
February 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Have you ever thought about where you stand in your relationship with rules around creativity or self-expression? Are you a rule breaker and trend setter, or do you find comfort in a bit of conformity because it keeps you feeling safer, less exposed? Maybe you just complain about the rules in society or work and how they impact your creativity because changing them feels overwhelming. But there is another possibility… Are you building and enforcing your own rules around creative expression, … [Read more...]