Creativity 101

Creative Blockers

Many people, possibly even you, think they aren’t creative. Not only that but they think they can never learn to be creative and therefore don’t try and even shrink away from creative activities. Much of this thinking comes from myths people have about creativity which can then lead to Creative Blockers.

Here are some myths about creativity:

  • Only certain people are born creative.
  • I can’t learn how to be more creative.
  • Only artists and musicians are creative.
  • Being creative is a waste of time.
  • I can’t come up with good ideas quickly so I must not be creative.
  • Creative people are unorganized and messy.
  • Creative people are weird and keep to themselves.
  • All the best ideas have already been thought of.
  • To be creative you must work alone.


Have you found yourself thinking any of these things? Have you heard other people say these things? Any one of these myths can greatly hinder your ability to become more creative. Fortunately, you can change this mindset simply by turning those phrases around and/or ignoring them.

The creative myths mentioned above can be fairly simple to overcome but if you believe in them enough and for a long time those myths can turn into full-blown Creative Blockers.

The three major and most common Creative Blockers are:

  • Perceived Lack of Time
  • Stress
  • Fear of Failure


Perceived Lack of Time

Many people think that creativity takes too long or that finding a creative solution is too much work. It’s true that creative breakthroughs rarely happen over-night but with enough practice you can begin to open up your creativity to allow more insight and ideas to form. It’s these insights and ideas that ultimately lead to creative breakthroughs.

Stress

Working on a creative project, craft or art is supposed to relieve stress and create a calming environment but all too often people deny themselves of this release because of life demands and other stressors. Many people are just so stressed they have no room in their brains to think about anything else, much less trying to be more creative. This is very unfortunate situation because what you might not realize is that even something as simple as crocheted a doily or baking a cake can open your intuition and creativity enough to help relieve whatever stress you might be having in your life right now.

Fear of Failure

Fear is the most common and paralyzing emotion that keeps people from doing challenging things. Creative endeavors are such a public activity; rarely do people create something that no one will ever see. When a part of you is put out in the world it can be a bit scary. For example, blogging has taken private journaling to a whole new level and most bloggers lives are out there for all to see. The same is true for crafts, art, poetry, plans for a building, plans for a new motor and pretty much anything that is created. Someone else must look at your work and will probably critique it. Some people are so scared of having people not like what they’ve created that they don’t create anything at all. The good thing is that not everything you create has to be shown to anyone. The beginnings of your creative journey can be done in the privacy of your room, bathroom or far out in the wood where no one can see. You have control over who sees your work. At first you may keep it all to yourself and even destroy the evidence after you are done but hopefully after a while you will become confident enough to show it to a loved one and from there possibly even to the world.

Turn to Chapter 3 in your Creativity 101 Workbook and complete the creative exercise.



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