Unbottling Creativity as a Step Towards Finding Your Purpose
Embracing Creativity
Creativity isn’t a luxury.
When we get creative, we unlock new versions of ourselves. What starts with a paintbrush or pair of crochet needles kindles a maker, problem-solver, healer, visionary spirit in us which we can take into other spaces.
Creativity isn't only about sharing our perspective and communicating with others, although that matters intensely, too: it's part of our ongoing relationship with ourselves.
In this piece I offer 10 exercises to get you being creative from a standing start. And to think about how creativity is invention, improvisation and inspiration: it's an attitude and practice NOT a set of skills. Let me know if you tackle any and the results...and let me know if you'd like me to add exercises of your own to the list!
The argument for creative living
Creative practice changes who we are. It drives neurobiological changes, strengthening our ability to adapt, to solve problems and so to move through the world with greater ease. Creativity is the force that allows us to reshape our lives, our goals, and the way we see everything in between.
When we talk in Just 12 Things about embracing creativity, it is not because we believe that the way out of the corporate grind is to become a professional artist, or even because creativity is something we will need in the development, promotion and operation of our projects, rather, because engaging in creative activities allows us to explore inner landscapes, leading to a deeper understanding of ourselves and their potential.
Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, emphasizes that creativity is a spiritual path to uncovering one's true self:
"you don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself."
Artist Yayoi Kusama has openly shared how her creative endeavors have been instrumental in coping with personal challenges:
"I fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only method I have found that relieved my illness is to keep creating art."
Joseph Beuys introduced the concept of "social sculpture," proposing that everyone is an artist in shaping society. He believed that
"only art is capable of dismantling the repressive effects of a senile social system... EVERY HUMAN BEING IS AN ARTIST."
The Creativity Cage: How Corporate Life Has Misdefined and Undermined Creativity
Corporate culture positively deifies creativity. It’s the darling of mission statements, the golden child of brainstorming sessions, the thing that will definitely happen if we all just stand near a whiteboard long enough. But if you look at how corporations define creativity, you’ll notice something: they don’t mean creativity at all. They mean obedience: just with a jaunty little spin.