Читать книгу Think Twice: You Can Be Creative - Dr. Jasmine Boone's Renner - Страница 5

The seasons of your life will literally shift and propel forward every time we use our creative abilities and decide to dig deeper within and release the treasuries out.

-Dr. Jasmine Renner

The truth is that what really matters is often subjective given the fact that individuals may find themselves in varying circumstances and seasons of their lives. Life happens sometimes and so to dictate what really matters will be an attempt in folly. However, permit me to make an exception in this case and suggest to you that as naturally endued creative beings, creativity really matters at this crucial point in humanity.

You may say why so? I am so busy and transitioning in my life right now. I got bills to pay, kids to take care of, assignments to fulfill etc. But think for a moment what if it was suggested that because you are so busy please stop breathing. Simply cut your breathe off. Can you? What will be your genuine response to this? My guess is that you may pause and say hmmm are you really out of your mind. Me stop breathing, can’t do that?

Well may I suggest to you that creativity is really in essence who you are. Not been creative is analogous to being out of breathe because creativity is really akin to the act of breathing in a human being. You take it away; you take your material life away. You are physically gone!! Think about it. You cannot stop breathing and still live. In the same way you cannot stop being creative and still live a full live. You were wired that way whether or not you are aware of it or not.

Often times we think of creativity in terms of having a big or major breakthrough in some areas of novel discovery but no? As I mentioned previously, a teacher connecting with students in a powerful, transforming way, an entrepreneur working long hours building a business a dancer learning a complicated routine, a rock climber inching up a challenging crevas, a parent planning a birthday party, a lawyer researching an obscure case a jazz pianist composing are all creating works of art, experiences, inventions, pictures, words, relationships, music, recipes, fun, and in some cases self-fulfillment.

But wait, have you ever given yourself the permission to create lately? By create I mean the little things that seem to be mundane. For examples as a cook have you lately experimented with an unusual seasoning; as a designer have you sketched a fashion layout; you are on a fishing escapade with your son as a fisherman have you tried to outsmart that wily trout.

What about you giving your message a little tweak and spin and some creative juice that you know will literally bless or transform someone in your church today? What about your two-year-old kid is he "playing" endlessly with ball?

I would suggest to you that as a bonafide creative spirit, it is ok…no, it’s perfectly fine, no. scratch that…it is absolutely NECESSARY for you to give yourself permission to be creative in little mundane things of your everyday life. I truly believe creativity is a part of who we are and it is how we express ourselves. By denying ourselves the ability to create meaningful relationships, art forms, jobs, designs…you name it…we are slowly dying inside. And to top it off, our outside lives don’t feel purposeful, fulfilling or meaningful.

I certainly felt this for years until I awakened my creativity and embraced my passion to inspire, motivate, and empower others with their creative dreams. My simple suggestion to you is to start today and give yourself the freedom to create your life, passions, and art the way you think and dream about. Do it in a non- pressure environment. Just be yourself.

You see creativity is quite simply the desire to create something - even if it's based on something you've seen by someone else. The very act of trying to recreate someone else's style is a creative act. By playing with a technique or approach you learn how it's done and in the process you inevitably put your own stamp on it. Maybe from there you find someone else's style that you like and work on emulating that. You learn a load more skills, but you don't forget your earlier ones.

Without even thinking about it you combine the skills and styles of both and again you add a generous seasoning of your own taste and interest. Even just copying is a creative act. And of course the same is true in science and technology as well. Building on the work of others, adding to their ideas or refining them are all creative acts. Ironically, when I started my career as an educator, I was entering one of the most creative of all professions. And I didn't even know it! In your small world you can be creative today because creativity really matters.

For a mom changing diapers, you can do it in a creative way today. Why not sing a lullaby exclusively created for your baby and do this routine task? Trust me you just created when you did that. An educator who send emails and responds to students request, why not add a little bit of humor or an inspiring quote at the end of your correspondence? Trust me you have created something. A pastor who uses illustrative demonstration in church to flesh out a point, bring a horse or a lion; I mean a fake one to your pulpit or stage and make your point. Trust me you are being creative. It sticks with your visual and non-visual hearers.

One thing we would agree that we all have in common is perception, cognition, reasoning, intuition, and imagination. They are all aspects of the functions of the mind the creator has given us to help us operate at the highest levels of intelligence and creative power. They are the streams that are part of the river of your life that flow in specific directions when they are harnessed and used appropriately. In fact, you need all of them in order to achieve your life purpose, accomplish your objectives, and fulfill your dreams. There can be no "real meaning” in your life without their help.

It is partly true that to have a high degree of creative intelligence is a gift — but my proposition is that every human being came into this world with a dose of creative juice which was a gift from our creator imprinted and wired into our being. It is up to us to become aware and release this great potential. Our society, schools and workplaces have not helped much in this regard.

Because our schools, society and workplaces accommodate more structured and traditional conventional intelligences, it is not always experienced that way.

A great deal of psychological and emotional suffering occurs even if you realize it or not if you perpetually do not understand what it means to be creatively intelligent, in everyday terms

“In a society that doesn’t appreciate them, creative abilities are often labeled and experienced as liabilities,” says Mary Taylor, LCSW, of the Creative Intelligence Centre. “Highly creative people often face a lifetime of hardship and psychological pain because they do not see themselves or their abilities clearly. The abilities of highly creative people are frequently hidden under…emotional, occupational and relationship difficulties.”

While the creative person is all too aware of their problems, they are often unaware of their abilities. The mere fact that they live in a society that may prefer linear, rational thinking and behavior, makes them try to fit into situations that don’t suit them — and then blame themselves when that doesn’t work out. Hence: “I’m too sensitive”; “I’m too much of a perfectionist”; “I think too much.” These erroneous conclusions can do “major damage” to self-image, says Taylor, and attempts made at correcting a problem from this vantage point are frequently unsuccessful because the initial interpretation was in error.

Creatively endowed and intelligent people don not necessarily work as writers or artists or in any field labeled ‘creative’. Many work “regular” jobs and may never think of themselves as being creative at all. Creative intelligence has little to do with particular activities and more to do with a way of meeting and understanding life. I define it is “the ability to engage intention and attention in a way that goes beyond the given”.

Applying our creative intelligence invites us to keep both heart and eyes wide open to the emerging moment. We’d all be more creative if we paid less attention to the surfaces, our doings and achievements, our ambitions and desires; and more attention to the depths, the hidden forces and faculties that lie within ourselves and others, within all things and all experiences. We insist on burnishing our worries and wants and wishes, until we are blind to what’s in front of our eyes. We insist on resounding our opinions, until we’ve drowned out the whispers of our hearts. So we fail to see the true visions, to hear the sound of other spheres. And the eternal stream folds back into the infinite nothing, from whence it came, having flowed past our skin instead of through our blood.

If you’re struggling to make more of your creativity – if you feel blocked or stuck, or just think you could take things further fear not this is for you. You can be creative. Start with the little mundane things. Become actively consciously aware that you are creative no matter what. As long as you are breathing, there is a hope and a future. You can be creative!!