How to Engage your Creative Mind
By Courtney Bousman
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with that “OMG, that’s the most amazing idea I’ve ever had” concept that you could not think of to save your life during your brainstorming session at work? You were in dreamland and your brain subconsciously did all the work for you! How weird (and amazingly convenient) is that?
As a Junior Designer on the creative team at EventLink, there have been numerous times when I have encountered a mental block where any and all creativity escapes me. My brain becomes a barren desert, scorched of all interesting, unique or compelling concepts. The harder I try to come up with something, the more I can’t and then I start to think, “WHAT THE &#^$ IS WRONG WITH ME?!”
Well, don’t you worry…I have a few helpful tips that allow access to the hidden wormhole of creative thinking located within each and every one of our brains!
By doing some research (internally and externally) and applying these exercises, tips and tricks to my own daily routine, I have found it easier to tap into creativity in all parts of my life when I need it…and you can too!
Here are my top three most effective tips that have aided in my becoming a more creative person. Drumroll please…
NUMBER ONE: Crush your daily routine
We all know that we get into a routine, and if you’re anything like me…you LOVE it and never want to stray from the comfort of your bubble. However, if we get into a continuous routine of not exposing ourselves to new faces, places or experiences, our creativity is not going to expose itself to us either. If we want to initiate that spark, we must crush our daily routine and do something new each day …YES, GET OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE! This can include driving a different route to work to see new scenery, wearing a different style of clothing you never thought you’d wear, talking to people you wouldn’t normally talk to if you’re shy, etc. The options are endless! When you do something new, you can gain different points of view and new ideas that you may not have thought of before had you never exposed yourself.
Exposure to these new visions and perspectives is a great way to spark new ideas! So, what do you say? Let’s crush our daily routine and light up our creative minds!
NUMBER TWO: Open your mind
If you’re like me, your mind is constantly full of thoughts – like a beehive full of annoying buzzing bees flying endlessly around with nowhere to go until Queen Bee gives them a break from making honey. Not only is our mind full of junk, but our body is tense from the trials and tribulations of daily stressors. When we are in this state, there is no room for anything positive to blossom such as new, creative ideas. To free up this room full of endless thoughts and stress, we must learn to RELAX and OPEN OUR MIND! With the chaotic world we currently live in, “relax” is almost a curse word that must be said under our breath, but it’s a must if we want to gain control of our creativity! Freeing our minds can be done in numerous ways such as participating in yoga, hiking through nature, meditating, or taking a bath with EVERY essential oil you own…you name it! Anything we can do to relax and clear our thoughts allows us to ground ourselves and make room for more productive, creative thoughts or ideas to come to fruition.
NUMBER THREE: Hang with creative minded people
I’ve heard that the people you surround yourself with can rub off on you. If you hang out with a depressed group of people that sit around and talk about how much their life sucks every day, I’d think you’d become just as miserable and start to hate life too. If you hang out with a group that is very athletic and into running those crazy half-around-the-world marathons, guess what? You will probably be half running, half walking, half dying thinking, “What the hell did I get myself into?!?” Well the exact same thing applies if you are around creative minded people. If you surround yourself with people who love art, are eccentric, into odd antiques, have an out of this world view on life…they will certainly rub off on you too! You are able to gain a whole new perspective of what creativity means to other people and how to apply it to your own creative thinking. Remember, creativity means something different to each of us and gaining a new view is always helpful in further developing our creative minds!
Well, there you have it folks, the top three tips to help you engage your creative mind that have ACTUALLY helped me. We all possess creativity, sometimes those ideas are just hard to come by…brain fart anyone? But with a change in our routine and a little effort we can tap into the creativity that all of us possess.
P.S. Don’t say I never gave you anything!
