I’ve recently added several new RSS feeds to my list of things to look at each day. One of them, Ezines:Creativity, has proven to have a lot of articles that make me think. One, Befriending Your Creativity, posted on July 20, 2006, raises an important point about how we treat our creativity. Author Jennifer Louden says

(W)e don’t often think about befriending, romancing, inveigling our creativity.

I couldn’t help but reflect on how true that statement is - we plead and argue with our creativity, demand it accommodate us, cry, yell and scream over it, complain about it. But how often do we “court” or entice it to cooperate with us?

Ms. Louden gives some examples of other things we do instead of befriending our creativity before suggesting three paths that can help us to a more friendly and cooperative relationship with our creative side. Her article is a good basis for further thought and discussion. Here are my thoughts on the main points in the article.

Don’t be a Creativity Dragon

Or, as it’s expressed in the article,

If you hoard your ideas, if you hold onto them too tightly, or if you fall in love with a certain expression of your creativity (a particular title or that your idea has to be expressed only as an opera never as a one woman show) you stymie the creative flow. You limit your gift. You increase fear and decrease productivity.

Dragons hoard all the sparkling, glittering treasure for themselves in hidden caves. The treasure is safe, but the only way it can increase is if the dragon goes out searching for more. It can’t grow, change or increase in value. And what value does it really have, if no one but the dragon knows it even exists?

Don’t assume that this idea is the only good one you’ll ever have - in all likelihood there are even better ones floating just behind it. If you hold one too tightly, it’ll block your view of the others.

Expecting the Spanish Inquisition

Ms. Louden uses the Monty Python skit to illustrate the fact that things rarely go as we expect them to go. In fact, we should expect the unexpected. It’s how we deal with it and what we do with it that is important. Her advice -

Expecting the Spanish Inquisition DOES NOT give you permission to be a negative cynical old poop who walks around muttering, “I told you so.” That is living in resentment and that just gets you suffering and stuckness. It simply means when something goes differently, don’t waste your time resisting. Instead, learn.

Make the unexpected into an opportunity. Use it, rather than letting it use you. Even if the experience is initially negative - you can take something good away from it. It may be something you learn about yourself or someone else. It may be a new skill that the situation forces you to learn.

Creating is Physical

Obvious, huh? Well, not really in the sense that Ms. Louden is speaking of. She’s not referring to the outcome of our creative process, but rather to our physical being.

We can change how we create by changing the shape of our body

I’m not sure about this myself, but maybe I simply haven’t paid enough attention to how creative or non-creative I am in different situations. Ms. Louden finds that doing yoga increases her sense of creativity and that creative energy and insights seem to be generated by the practice. It has changed the way she goes about creating.

What do you think? Have you ever tried to make friends with your creative nature? What methods have been successful in courting your creativity? I think most of us would like a better relationship with our creativity but may not be sure how to go about making it happen.