How to tap into your creative potential

Our life is a dynamic and ever evolving work of art. It’s full of mystery and magic, pleasure and pain, seeking and surety. And what I know in my bones is this…we are not here to find anything (happiness, purpose, meaning, love)…we are here to CREATE it. 

If we truly want to become architects of our life, then it’s essential for us to examine the idea that creativity is only expressed through ‘the arts’: visual arts, performance arts, musical arts, and so forth. 

In truth, creativity is a core aspiration we all seek to feel and hold in our life. It’s a soul level need. Another word for it is self-expression and it can be found not only in the arts, but in how we show up for our life, day to day. The way we make our food or set the table, the way we decorate and organize our spaces, the way we dress, the way we interact with other humans, the way we problem solve, the way we utilize our time, the way we let go, the way we hold on, the way we approach our work in the world, the way we approach the start of our day, the way we approach our love-making….are all acts of creativity and self-expression. 

Our life itself is a constant and never-ending resource for us to be in creation. Whatever you create - a baby, a savings, a formula, an event, a beautiful home, a healthy body, a good life, a sense of purpose, peace of mind…this is all creativity being expressed. 

It’s like the great and late Indian spiritual guru & philosopher once said, “When I say be creative I don't mean that you should all go and become great painters and great poets. I simply mean let your life be a painting, let your life be a poem.”

So my question for your soul today is this….

Are you creating the kind of masterpiece that makes you feel like you…that makes you say with confidence, “Here I am world! THIS is me.”

Ask yourself (and if you really want some insight, I recommend pulling out a journal and setting a time for 3 minutes for each of these questions - 15 minutes total. Let your soul answer - not your head)…

How do I feel about creativity?  

What are my beliefs about it?

How does it show up in my life? 

What am I doing that’s working/not working? 

Where am I craving more or different?

When it comes to creativity and self-expression we must also address our boundaries (opens us to more productivity) and our fears of being seen (opens us to more optimal performance). 

When it comes to expressing ourself fully and leaning into our creative potential, we open the floodgates to some serious, deep level inquiry and thus, growth. In that space we must be courageous because to persevere, we will have to face becoming clear around and making decisions based on our boundaries and in the face of our fears. 

The good news is…these ’messy’ moments are ripe with possibility, as they are the crossroads between our old story and our new one… 

Standing at the crossroad…

We feel stuck around putting ourself ‘out there’ (aka being seen) and fear our truth will be taken the wrong way. We long to get over the ledge and finally share our full selves with more courage. 

We feel stretched thin and guilty for even thinking about taking the time for ourselves to create when there is a sink full of dishes, laundry to do, ‘to-dos’ left undone, a partner craving intimacy, children needing to be fed, and/or friends longing for our time. 

We push away thoughts about trying something new, worried about ‘getting out of our lane’ or ‘rocking the boat of safety.’  

Yet, these moments ask something of our life that is very important to live into our creative potential. We must be willing to slow down enough to recognize it…it asks us, “are you ready to make your life, yours?” 

It’s like Eleanor Roosevelt once so clearly laid it down for us, “It’s your life—but only if you make it so.” 

In this month’s B.R.A.V.E Circle I offered up a February challenge and an adventure at the close our circle. I invite you to join us. 

Challenge: Creativity needs S P A C E. So, this is the STOP Consuming, START Creating Challenge. 

If you want to start creating more in alignment with your soul…then you’ll need to take at the ways you fill up space through consuming. Here are some things you may want to consider stopping (for the rest of February)…stop scrolling through social media, stop watching tv, stop taking yet another training, stop buying yet another book that just ends up on your book shelf, stop going to the mall or scrolling through Amazon)…you’ll suddenly find lots of S P A C E for creating more consciously. 

Adventure: Create an intentional morning ritual. This is a ritual you can do each day that will enhance creativity and an overall sense of fulfillment in your life. I recommend you create accountability by doing this with a parter for the rest of the month and texting each other every morning when you get up. 

You may want to take the month to explore different ways to use this morning time for yourself.

Here are some creative examples:

The 5am club: this group all gets up everyday at 5am to follow a practice they refer to as 20/20/20 - 20 minutes of movement, 20 minutes of mindset practices, and 20 minutes of learning. 

The Miracle Morning (a book): The author maps out something he refers to as the life S.A.V.E.R.S. and suggests you get at least 5 minutes of each practice in every morning (a 30 minute practice). 

S - Silence (ex: meditation, prayer, reflection, deep breathing, gratitude) 

A - Affirmations 

V - Visualization 

E - Exercise
R - Reading 

S - Scribing (writing) 

ME: I wake M-F at 5:30am and the weekends I wake around 7am. I don’t have any hard and fast rules about how my morning goes, except that whatever I do…it must bring me JOY and feel SPACIOUS. Not rushing in the morning or having to get right to work or right to taking care of dogs needs, has been pure heaven and a total game changer. 

PS. If you enjoyed this, each month I send out a soul story with smart strategies based on an aspiration from The Fulfillment Formula. February is the month of Creativity: productivity + performance. Join the community to get immediate access - along with other inspiration for creating a life that lights you up!

If you would love to dive into life design from a seriously creative and soulful stance…join The Changemakers Collective.

Now I’d love to hear from you!

How do you feel about creativity and how does it show up in your life? 

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In devotion to ‘making it so’…together,