What is your best advice on becoming creative?

[samulen]

Hello.
Being into the arts I always love hearing what other people do in order to get inspired or creative? But it does not have to be just about arts.
How do you get up in the morning? How do you deal with the "daily stuff". What motivates you? Do you have any phrases, ideas, rituals, food etc.

Thanks in advance for sharing your great ideas!

[mwzephyr]

personally i try to be very aware of my surroundings; I try to read into what I see.
When I drive, I try to put what I am seeing into words.
When i listen to music I imagine up the scene that would accompany it. When I have deep feelings I try to put them to pen or brush or instrument.
I try to see between the lines. I try not to just see the rivers that run across the country side but the countryside that runs along the rivers.
I try to every day see beyond the obvious. I try to make lemonade from lemons. I am not afraid of pain and sorrow; I try to recognise how they affect us and to document them.

Try writing a running documentary of your life. do it for a day. Another day try to find the music that runs in between the events that makeup your day. try to find rhythm, color, try to find things that make you happy and magnify them 10,000 fold...

Live your life as a prayer; find the words and actions and beauty you would put into that prayer and then live it!

[Peace Poppy]

Hello.
Being into the arts I always love hearing what other people do in order to get inspired or creative? But it does not have to be just about arts.
How do you get up in the morning? How do you deal with the "daily stuff". What motivates you? Do you have any phrases, ideas, rituals, food etc.

Thanks in advance for sharing your great ideas!

Everyday when I see and smell the beauty of nature and feel loved by my family just inspires me to be creative, productive and share happiness with people I meet, it really is the simple things that inspire humans. I do not think for a second that human kind was created to be shallow, harmful, greedy and selfish. Inspiration is contagious, please pass some on!

[samulen]

Thanks for the replies. The two examples given are really inspiring and beautiful. Thank you!

Does anyone have ritual or certain tasks as well? Like, jumping up and down or asking certain questions?

Just wanted to hear from the other side of the spectrum as well.

Cheers!

[Hawkeye]

I'd like to reply, but you haven't specified the art. Writing, performing? I don't really want to go into detail on writing techniques if you're a painter, which I know nothing about Do tell!

[samulen]

Hello there!

No, I have not specified because everybody does different things. And creativity can be found anywhere, in arts, life, nature, family etc.

So, please let us know what you do, and if it is for a specific art it does not matter. I wouldn't want you to talk about things you have no clues about.

And, I am strong believer in that the skills you have in one specific area, can be transfered to any other area - That is why it is great to practice more than one thing.

So, please tell us your wisdom. How are you creative? Speficially or not?

Cheers!

[kree8r]

Hello samulen,
Ah, finding the muse, always a challenge. Try this.

Ask for her and then be present to her whims. If she says, "Dearest Samulen, go for a walk," then go for a walk. If she tells you to go find a different pair of socks, follow her directive. She may tell you to vacuum or wash the car. It's these little jaunts out of our ordinary day that lead us to inspiring little sounds, sights, and ideas.

Be patient. Sometimes her instructions seem pointless and trivial, but it is in the most unexpected places that inspiration finds us.

And what, you ask, if she is stubborn and silent? Then go about your day. Know that she is alive and well and tricky. But she cannot stay silent for long. It's not in her nature. Soon you will feel a slight tingle in your arm, or the warmth of a breeze across your cheek, and you will know she has returned.

Good luck my creative friend,
And bless you,
M

[Lion~*]

Believe it or not... I don't try! I don't bang my head against a wall if I have no creative flow... I wait and go about my hours of life. Might be a word... a sentence or an incessant image or feeling gripping the inside of my ribs. Then I take it and still... I do not try... I just let it go and feel it escape my soul. I am very often quite astonished by what comes flowing off my fingertips; sometimes on a crumpled saleslip in my purse, another pounded out on my laptop and on occassion by dim light at 2 am scrawled onto whatever I can reach! Mostly it is words... sometimes a sketch... always it is me.

[Davidf]

samulen,
I carry a pen with me everywhere I go and write on whatever's handy whenever the muse hits. Then it goes into my journal. I know you're probably going to hate me, but my muse just flows naturally...I try and write at least 3 poems per week, if I can, whether they be religious or secular. On the positive side, there are a few poetry on-line "writing circles" that are no charge. Poem Train and Poetic Skies are 2 I know of. Google them, I belong to both, they are very friendly sites.
~Davidf

[c91329]

"Always do your best: never give up."