I am surprised almost every week while having a conversation that starts with something like, “I am not creative.” Or, “I thought I would be an artist, but I turned out to be an energy healer.” Too many people assume that because they are not artists, musicians, performers, writers or other obvious forms of creative expression, somehow they were overlooked when creativity was dished out.
I love the following quote by Albert Einstein because it sums up my philosophy about creativity: “Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid.”
You are a creative genius
With that in mind, I believe everyone has a healthy dose of inner creative genius. And the expression of that creative genius can come in a myriad of forms, such as how you advocate for a cause you believe in, how you parent, how you approach your life, how you cook, how you entertain, and as many more “how you do” statements as you can imagine.
Creativity comes from being fully aligned with our most unique, authentic nature and expressing that unique nature in our daily lives. Too many of us have learned how to appear to be more of what others see as “good enough” or “worthy enough,” and as a result we disconnect from or downplay the parts of ourselves that are unique to us. Once you learn how to truly stay tuned into your deepest inner knowing and what you are here to express in this lifetime, everything you do will come from your inner creative genius.
What your creative genius needs to thrive:
- Dedicate a space in your heart that nurtures and supports this aspect of your nature. I have a free audio available on my website that helps people create a sacred place in their hearts to house this important aspect of their nature.
- Understand how to support your creativity. Creativity is a cycle like the in and out breath. In this case, the in breath looks like percolation, daydreaming, down time, doodling, imagining, and seemingly nothing going on in the physical world. The out breath of creativity is the activity that makes your creation come to life. Constant focus on the activity that makes your creation come to life will squelch your creativity.
- Value your creative genius as much as your sense of responsibility and ability to produce in your daily life.
- Manage the limiting beliefs that keep you disconnected from your inner creative genius. I call these beliefs creativity squashers, and they sound like any of the following: “I am not good enough to do ___. I don’t compare to __ so I shouldn’t do this at all. I don’t deserve to spend my time doing __ because there are other things I should be doing.” Whatever unsupportive thoughts keep you from creating in the way that feels natural to you is a creativity squasher for you. All of these thoughts are supposedly keeping you safe, but in reality, they are only keeping you small.
- Create and protect space in your life for your inner creative genius. Create a physical space in your home that is dedicated to your creativity. Block time on your calendar every week for creative expression and protect that time. Spend time each week either expressing creatively in some way or noticing how you are already engaging your inner creative genius in parts of your daily life.
I trust that you are now very aware of your inner creative genius and have some tools for engaging more deeply with confidence in your unique expression of creativity. I have a new book coming out in June, 30 Days to Reignite Your Inner Creative Genius, that will help you get in the practice of staying tuned into your creativity with ease.