Happy New Year to you. I wanted to start this first blog post of the year with a reminder that YOU ARE a creative being, whether you believe that or not.

It always blows me away when I hear the statement, “I’m not creative.” 

It always makes me think: Why do so many people reject and disown their creativity? How is a human being not creative? 

I get it, we’re all wired differently, and some of us are not working with our hands, painting masterpieces or dress super hipster.  Although, aren’t there several different ways and paths to unleash creativity? Doesn’t creativity come in many different packages? 

I think there are and I think it does.

Just because you aren’t choosing to spend your career or time investing in your creativity, doesn’t mean that you lack the creative gene.

I believe that creativity comes with the package labeled human being; In other words, apart of being human is being creative. The time, focus, energy and how much of a priority that you make to invest in your creativity is what can allow it to blossom. There are so many ways to express your own individual creativity. Don’t get caught in the story that you need to work in a creative field, grind out creative product on the regular, or invent your own brand in order to be considered creative. 

You are creative. Again, It’s more a matter of whether you’ve invested the time and energy to tap into your unique creativity or not. 

If you’re feeling that you would like to awaken your creativity, here are some ideas to get your juices flowing in the new year:

P L A Y

Please still play. 

Just recently I was watching my little cousin have an imagined sword fight against some dude in Starwars in his front yard. It was amazing. The sound effects alone made me smile from ear to ear. He was in his own creative zone, 100%. 

What happens so often, is that we get older, more “busy” and sucked into the “adult world.” Blah. Don’t get me wrong, the adult world doesn’t need to be blah, but in order to avoid feeling bored and unfulfilled, we are responsible for bringing more fun and play into our lives.

In order to bring more excitement into your world, tap into what play means for you. Get back in tune with the childhood you by looking through old pictures of yourself to remind the adult you what your interests were. Just for experimentation purposes, go there. Meaning, watch your favorite flick from the old school days, play nintendo, go ice skating, ride a bike, eat cotton candy, make a ginger bread house, eat gummy worms; Do something that taps you back into your playful childlike self.

Invent a New Story

Please stop telling yourself that you’re not creative. In order to allow your creativity to come out of hiding, you must create a new story. Even if you’ve convinced yourself that, really, you’re not creative, make the small choice to stop yourself from screaming it in conviction from the mountain top. Allow the thought to come up and pass without consistently reinforcing that it's true.  When the thought pops up, acknowledge it and let it go. The words you speak about yourself are very powerful, so be mindful of what you put out there. 

As you practice this, begin to explore what the real facts about you are. You can uncover these facts by answering some questions.

For instance:

Is it true that you have never had a good idea?

Is it true that you have never done anything in your whole entire lifetime that wasn’t kind of interesting or cool?

I’m going to go out on a limp here and pretty much guarantee, that if your alive and human, you've had countless cool ideas and interesting thoughts. Start telling yourself that story. That’s the truth. Find a new story and a new truth to believe in about your creativity that serves you. A more truthful and factual story can be; “I haven’t been taking the time to be creative” or “It’s not a priority for me to invest in my creativity” rather than “I’m so not a creative person.”  Whether these statements are true for you or not, they are examples of more factual statements vs. judgements about your creative abilities.

Rediscover Your Inner Peter Pan

My intention with encouraging you to tap into your inner Peter Pan is for you to reconnect with your childlike self. I’m encouraging you to look at what it would mean for you to reconnect to the fun, imaginative and magical side of you. What would it mean for you to believe, get involved, let go, loosen up and get lost in a story? 

Lets take a moment to reflect back to the world that was filled with Easter Bunnies, Leprechauns walking on rainbows toward pots of gold, fairy Godmothers granting wishes and friendly elves making us presents all year long in the North Pole. Point being; Life was magical when we were young. All sorts of rad little people existed in our hearts and minds.

When we were young, our creativity and imaginations were supported strongly by the world. Then, one particular day, or, perhaps over time, things changed and it was “time to be an adult.” Whatever that means. How about the contrast of being a responsible adult, who is doing kick ass things? A person with a solid balance between responsibility and play.

I’m convinced that life is much more enjoyable when we regularly tap into our playful and fun side. If you don’t even know where to begin with reintroducing this side of yourself, put yourself around kids. They’re awesome teachers by showing us how to reconnect with creativity and imagination because they believe. Before the world exposed us to some difficult realities, it was easier for us to believe. Do your best to find your unique balance of fun and play paired with managing your adult responsibilities. This balance exists. It’s just a matter of rediscovering it.

Enjoy the process of bringing back some magic to your world. Put back on those rose colored glasses to an extent, so you can see that there is some magic in this world. I’m not urging you to go back to believing that Santa is real, but allow yourself to get lost in the excitement and fun of believing, imagination and creativity. Why not?

* The above image was taken by Amy Lynn Bjornson, San Diego Photographer.