The Trick to Being Creative

Whether you are just in a slump or you think the creativity gene just missed you, everyone can be creative.  The trick is to break out of your usual routine, to startle your brain with something new.  Most of us function on autopilot due to habit so the only way to rewire those brain networks is to confuse and challenge it.  Even Albert Einstein needed help to think more creatively.  So, he picked up the violin.  Winston Churchill learned how to paint landscapes.  It doesn't matter what activity you choose so long it's something of interest to you.

I've dabbled in painting, book making, cross-stitching, kickboxing, baking, doll making, and the like.  I agree with Salvador Dali who said, “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” And “if you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced,”  said Vincent Van Gogh.

It doesn't matter if you "fail."  You don't have to show it to anyone.  It's a creative exercise.  You don't have to feel pressure to be great at it.  And if you're only interested in it for a month, that is okay too.  You didn't waste your time.  It still would have a positive effect on your brain.

I promise picking up a new hobby will be good for you.  Consider a small farm that grows a variety of produce: beets, tomatoes, asparagus, what have you.  Every new season, the farmer plants different vegetables in their place to revitalize nutrients in the soil.  That's a healthy farm that will produce lots more delicious goodies in the future.  And then imagine a neighboring farm that only grows potatoes, potatoes, and more potatoes.  Every year, every inch of space it's potatoes.  Pretty soon, that farmer is going to be ruined, because the soil was not given an opportunity to replenish itself.

Now, if you don't exercise creativity, you won't go broke like the farmer above.  But your brain is going to be pretty exhausted from the same thing over and over again.  And I'm sure you'd be bored if you had to eat potatoes every meal.  Doesn't the dish above look so much more appealing?

So whaddaya say?  How do you keep your brain alert and alive?