Developing your Creativity: Step 1) Remembering.

Developing your Creativity: Step 1) Remembering.

Remember when you were a child? When everything was new and exciting and you weren't afraid to take risks? Can you remember when you first came to know your parents and when you first knew you were a part of them? What about the moment you discovered that you were born out of their act of creation?

Let's go back further... where were you before the cells dived, sperm met ovum? Just as you existed (at least physically) in the sperm and the ovum before you were created, you also existed (in some manner) in the act of the creation itself.

Now let's look bigger picture – before energy came into existence and before matter was formed, the act of creation was present. Call it God, Divinity, Boson Higgs Particle, doesn't matter because it can't be contained in a label anyway. Just as you were present in the act of your physical creation, you were also present in the act of the creation of everything we know and feel. In other words, you are and have always been part of Creation... YOU ARE CREATIVE.

It is important to remember this point, that you are part of and are - creative. This is important because one thing we like to tell ourselves is that we “are not creative.” I hear this all of the time, “we don't have anyone creative on our team” or “I am not as creative as her.” Impossible! Sometimes we trip ourselves up by forgetting where we came from and what we are a part of.

You don't have to understand any of this on an intellectual level, just try to accept the premise that you are creative.

A little closer to the present time, let's us go back to your childhood. Would you agree that you were creative back then? Maybe more so than you are today? Why? How is it possible that as you aged and amassed new knowledge and experiences, you actually forgot how to be creative? Think about this for a moment.

There are many reasons why we choose to forget we are creative. One reason is neurological. Our adult routines form habitual pathways in our brains protected by what is called, the myelin sheath, making detours in regular processing very difficult. For example, we learn and accept from our experiences that to get to point C you must start at point A and go through point B. Our brains are designed to store information in the most efficient way possible to recall it, stripping all unnecessary data away and “automating” the many tasks of our lives. This is a very important function of survival mostly left over from early evolution of the human brain, when quick, autonomous action was critical.

Myelination occurs in the brain from birth until about age 20. Up until around age 20, vast areas of the brain are not yet myelinated. Is this why we are “more” creative as children? Picture a water hose. When the hose is intact, water goes in one way and comes out the other. However, imagine the hose was full of holes, or that the hose doesn't exist at all... water goes in and follows any number of paths. You can see with this example the usefulness of myelin and the limitation it may pose in divergent thought (divergent thought is part of creativity).

The good news is we CAN rewire our brain. We know now that the brain is continuously creating and destroying neurons and neural pathways. It does this with the help of our input in the form of needs and experiences. Therefore, we can shape our brains in the following ways -

1. Age. As we age, the myelin sheath begins to degrade. The degradation opens up others ways of thinking and likewise behavior. This may be why many of us go through mid-life questioning (crisis) and why many seniors begin to enjoy the creative arts.
   
   
2. Form new habits. This one is difficult for many of us in the instant gratification world. We expect to be able to read top 10 tips and then change our lives. Top ten tips do work (I will even provide my own list of tips at some point in this blog), but will not provide sustainable change to your creativity development. Habits can be formed and replaced through continual practice. It takes 20 – 30 days to form a new habit.
   
   

If you have ever began a new workout regimen you'll know how difficult it is to form a new habit. Everyday, going to the gym, working hard, uggghh. Then, almost suddenly, you find it is actually more difficult NOT to go to the gym than it is to go there. In other words, you have formed a new habit.

Are you ready to create the habit that will lead you back to your own creativity? Tune in to my next blog on Developing your Creativity and we will get started.

Resources -

For more on how the brain affects creativity listen to the interview of neuropsychologist, Rex Jung on On Being - http://www.onbeing.org/program/creativity-and-everyday-brain/1879

For more information on developing a Creative Habit, read Twyla Tharp's, “The Creative Habit.”