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creative and health

by Jennifer Thompson, ambassador for Deviant Thinking

Why are we afraid of being creative?

When a teen is asked what they want to be, adults hope for answers like engineer, doctor, or businessman. We cringe when they say artist, designer, or writer. Why do we assume they are doomed to a life of despair? Why do we assume that using your creativity will lead to heart ache? While I know there are plenty of starving artists and crazy musicians, there are just as many messed up accountants, engineers, and stock brokers.  But for some reason, these professions don’t have the stigma for causing tortured souls. After working for years in corporate America I am certain they are just as tortured.

So how does one be creative and healthy? I think that at heart everyone knows that those who are creative challenge the status quo. Challenging our assumptions is scary to many people. Most people would like to go through life without changing much. Fear and need for acceptance so often rule our decisions as opposed to our heart and our desires.

My own father said to me this last weekend, “I guess I didn’t know what I was talking about when I told you that you were crazy to go into design.” For an electric company lineman the world of design was totally foreign. He didn’t want his “little girl” to not make it and he had heard that design was a tough job and only a few can succeed.

After years of being in design, that statement really makes me smile. I can’t believe how many people don’t realize that everything, and I do mean everything, around them is designed. Design and creativity are the great differentiators in the world and are needed by every company no matter how big or small.

So how do people feel healthy in a creative environment?

 3 Strategies for Being Creative and Healthy:

 1) Be yourself

I love this quote from Picasso-

“When I was a child my mother said to me: ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk you’ll be the pope.’ Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”- Pablo Picasso

So often the tortured part of our soul tells us that we are not living our purpose, we are living the lives that we are “supposed” to live. Find your purpose in life and feel comfortable living. The goal is not to please others, but to please your own commitment to yourself.

 2) Use your genius

 Sometimes you need to blame it on someone else. The word genius is Latin in origin and it represents an individuals’ guardian deity or spirit which watches over each person from birth, and is the incarnation of their spirit, wit, and talent.

I love that. Blame it on your “Genius”. It helps to take the pressure off. You are not responsible for your creative ability, that is your “genius’s job”. You just need to show up every day and be the channel to do the work.

 3) Don’t feel guilty

 I have many friends–okay even myself sometimes–that question if we are genuine enough. Sometimes things just connect in such easy ways that it feels like anyone can come up with that idea. We must remember we all have the skill to be creative, but it is having the guts to truly share the idea that differentiates us from the rest.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.” – Steve Jobs

What other ideas are important to you to stay healthy and creative?

 

Today’s photo is a picture of my birthday cake that a very dear friend Marcela Kratochvilova made for me.  Talk about being healthy and creative!

 
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