As children, we act on every creative impulse. Whether it’s drawing with fine-liners on the kitchen wall, making mud cakes, or trying on our mother’s shoes. But as we grow older, we’re taught not do. We’re taught:

  • How to create: Stay within the lines, a dog doesn’t look like that, red doesn’t go with pink.
  • What to create: Draw a nice picture for grandpa, build a tower with the blocks, use this pattern for the mittens.
  • Even when to create: Homework/housework first, maybe after dinner, wait until the kids are asleep.

So as adults, many of us end up where we’ve shut off our creative impulses completely, to the point where it’s affecting our

  • Moods
  • Relationships
  • Health
  • Finances

When you deny yourself to express your creativity, everything suffers.

To get our creative impulses back, we have to re-learn how to act on them.

When you get an impulse to do things differently, act on it (if possible). The voice of that creative impulse may be just a whisper but listen to it, as much as you can.

  • Take that quirky family photo instead of the regular, posed photo for Christmas.
  • Decorate that cake any way you want, instead of the way your mother always did.
  • Doodle during the meeting or phone call if you want.
  • Wear a funny hat.
  • Skip along the sidewalk.

If you want some help with this, a safe place to share your creative pursuits, and to meet others going through a similar change, join the Creative Explorers on Facebook.

2 Comments

  1. Sibylle

    Or “dance” while sitting at your desk. I do that all the time, to the amusement of my work colleagues 😉

    Reply
    • Linda Ursin

      Yes, that’s a good one 🙂 Thanks Sibylle

      Reply

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