Category Archives: Steps to Creativity

WHAT I LEARNED IN MY YEAR OF WALKING DURING A PANDEMIC

How have I coped with this time of social distancing? I took a walk, then another one, and it turned into over 364 walks! From 3/29/2020 until 3/21/2021 I logged in 2200, the length of the Appalachian Trail. Walking daily is probably the best decision I never made! Things I’ve noticed are:

  • I began to listen to nature, and my observational skills increased
  • My concentration level increased
  • I feel in better shape than I have been in decades
  • I am eating much healthier
  • I fit into all my clothes
  • My most creative ideas have come while walking – and I’ve learned to take a notebook with me

According to a study done by Stanford University, walking can increase your creativity by 60%!!!!
If I had read this a few years ago, I would have laughed. But – it Is true. You can read about about this study HERE.

Ampitheater found in the woods

In looking back through history, many of the great creatives walked daily. 

  • Aristotle gave his lectures while walking. His followers were known as peripatetics – Greek for wandering about.
  • Wordsworth walked an estimated 175 thousand miles during his life
  • Dickens walked everyday after writing from 9a-2p – and 20+ miles was not unusual.
  • Thoreau felt walking was a pilgrimage to his Holy Land.
  • Beethoven  took breaks throughout the day to “run into the open”. 
  • Virginia Woolf and James Joyce  took several of their characters on walks that she took herself.
  • Nietsche felt it was where he worked best.
  • Mahler walked up to five hours a day. He had a jerky weird walk which his daughter claimed came from his shift in rhythms.

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” Nietsche

Butterfly

I have discovered a hidden world of treasures in my own neighborhood. I have collected over 80 bird feathers, I found a hidden beach, a hidden teepee, a hidden ampitheater – all in my neighborhood!

I have seen a gleeful boy and his father take a bike ride throughout the neighborhood every day after lunch. I have seen a neighbor taking her bird on a walk. I discovered there are three greyhounds (in different homes) on one street, and three standard poodles. There is a cat that likes to walk with her favorite dogs. 

So, get out there and take a walk. Don’t use weather as an excuse, learn to dress properly. As Roger Miller said. “Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet”.

And, I know a lot of you will say – you just don’t have time! I have found I don’t have the time NOT TO WALK. As I said, I walk often these days – often working out a problem in my head while moving. A fifteen minute walk outside is better than no walk at all.  Out of ideas? Again, take a walk!

One last observation, 99% of all dead-end streets or cul-de-sacs have a basketball hoop. I wonder what that means?

Basetball hoop

Do you have an walking stories to share?

 

 

 

GET IN THE MOOD WITH MUSIC

STEPS TO CREATIVITY #5

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BLACK NOTE ©Vickie Martin

Music is a powerful way to change your mood and tap into your creativity. Did you realize since music is made up of vibrating sounds, it forms patterns and creates energy?  When you listen to music, it trigger the release of dopamine, often referred to as the pleasure chemical. Music has been around since the beginning or time. Even in Paleolithic times (or the Stone Age), time was spent creating music as flutes made from animal bones have been found. Music just makes us feel good!

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” Nietzsche

Music helps us enter into the “mind wandering mode” – the day-dreaming state where thoughts seem to float around and often seem  unconnected.

Familiar music helps you stay focused. However, new music (new to you that is) demands more attention – you will stop and listen because you don’t know what is coming next.

Music helps us exercise. As early as 1911, science found cyclists went faster while listening to music.

Music makes us more productive.  It helps us focus.

So, what should you be listening to? That is a somewhat individual decision. Most studies show lyrics to be distracting. But, there are lyrics that some people find inspiring.

There is a lot of research out there about the effects of music on the brain, it is a question scientists have long been interested in. They all agree that music does have an affect on our moods, that is makes us move, it helps us focus and it inpisres us.

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MY FATHERS PIANO ©Vickie Martin

For me, classical music inspires me. I’m talking about Beethoven, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky and the like. I like that BIG SYMPHONIES. That may not work for you. Stephen King listens to hard rock while he writes. Jazz inspires me. And, there is always Bowie to listen to!

What have you found to work for you? I’d like to know, I always willing to give it a go!

 

 

 

 

GO PLAY! SERIOUSLY

STEPS TO CREATIVITY #5

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It seems everyone is so focused on their work and commitments, they have stopped playing. Do you think playing is a waste of time because the only goal is to have fun!

What is play? It is defined as taking part in an activity for enjoyment and recreation instead of for a practical purpose.

Why should we play?

  • It relieves stress and often triggers the endorphins that give us a sense of well-being.
  • It stimulates your mind. People have a tendency to learn more when they are having fun.
  • It improves learning skills. Playing board games or putting together puzzles challenges us and improves our memory.
  • It has been proven it increases social skills in children, why wouldn’t that apply to adults?

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw

I dare you to go play! Make a list of what you liked to do as a kid. Make a bucket list of things you want to do.

Better yet, set a daily goal to play, set a minimum amount of time you will spend playing.

What can you do?

Learn a card trick

Play the Ukulele

Go Bowling

Play miniature golf

Go to a playground

Play with a dog – and if you don’t have one, many rescue groups need dog walkers. Talk to the dog while you are at it.

Put on some music and dance

Make a collage

Color

Who doesn’t play? Studies have shown, mass murderers don’t play!

Playing helps us relax, it takes us away from the real world. Through playing we can be anything, an explorer, a time traveler, a ruler – there are no limits.

What do you do to play?

 

 

 

 

EMPTY YOUR MIND

FINDING YOUR CREATIVITY #3

“A mind too active is no mind at all.” Theodore Roethke

There have been times I have been afraid to take a peek inside my mind.It was an endless maze I couldn’t find the exit. With all the things life throws at you, we all have a tendency to hang on to things. We suffer from information overload. Humans were never meant to spend so much time indoors staring at a computer. And, there are always those voices that are always worrying and censoring you.  You worry about what you have to do today, worry about what you have to do tomorrow, worry about what you did yesterday. It is an endless cycle. It’s almost like your mind has taken on a life of it’s own with the incessant chattering. It’s probably talking to you right now!

But, the voice doesn’t want to hurt you, in fact, generally it wants to protect you. But, that chatter fills up you mind. To learn to empty your mind, it opens it to all these wonderful new ideas and thoughts.

How to do it?

I believe meditation, exercise and writing your Morning Pages are key.  What are The Morning Pages?  This comes from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It is a basic tool to reclaiming your creativity.  Write three pages every morning FIRST THING.  You are not writing these to be published, you are writing to empty your mind. There is no right or wrong way to do this, just put pen to paper and write three pages. They don’t even have to make sense. They are not designed to be read again. If you don’t have anything to say, write that you don’t have anything to say. Write affirmations, write out your to-do list. But, put the pen to the paper and write.  Writing on a computer is rarely as effective.

You can hear Julia talk about the morning pages in the following video.




 

So, get paper and a pen and write the three pages first thing in the morning. Trust me, it works!

Next up in this series, Think like a minimalist.

 

 

 

FIND YOUR TRIBE

STEPS TO CREATIVITY #1

Finding your tribe is first step in living a creative life. Call them what you want, your tribe, your posse, your clan, your family – just call them! Find them! These are the ones that will support you and want the very best for you. The right group will:

CITY EMERGING

CITY EMERGING

 

KEEP YOU MOTIVATED

ENCOURAGE YOU

INSPIRE YOU

GIVE YOU SUPPORT

 

Did you know that geese travel 75% fast when they travel in packs? So, it stands to reason if you find your tribe you will gain momentum and reach your goals faster.

You can ask them to hold you accountable for your goals too (an accountability partner has worked for me – but she moved on – I need a new one!)

But, remember the word – RECIPROCITY. To really have a tribe you can trust, you have to give it back. You need to encourage, inspire – in short – cheer them on!

Find a mentor! Thomas Edison mentored Henry Ford. Thomas Jefferson mentored Lewis and Clark. Paul Robeson mentored Obama. Maya Angelou mentored Oprah. Woody Guthrie mentored Bob Dylan. Ralph Waldo Emerson mentored Thoreau. Warren Buffet mentored Bill Gates.

Where are you going to find your tribe, find your mentor? First of all, get out there, go out into the world! Keep trying! Take a class, go to events!

Be curious. Be brave. Make connections!

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

STEPS TO CREATIVITY

BOY, is my face red!!!!

Almost exactly two years ago, I started a series called “21 weeks to your most creative self”. When I wrote the last installment THE POWER OF NO (published 8/16) I looked back through my blogs to see when I started the series –  September 2014! Only eleven posts on the subject in 2 years!

SO – I decided to start all over again.  I’m going to call this simply – STEPS TO CREATIVITY.  So, here goes – starting with the question:

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Merriam-Webster defines the word as “the ability to make new things or think new things.” It is the ability to see the world in a new way and to make connections between things that seem unrelated.  It is asking what any two year old asks,

WHY?

WHAT IF?

Every human being is born creative. However, as we get older society teaches us to suppress creativity – remember being told to color within the lines?  Society teaches us to conform and often frowns upon originality. That makes most people forget they were ever creative at all!

Living creatively means looking at the world around you with wonder. Your imagination leads to thoughts, thoughts become words and words become action. Creativity is not worth anything if you don’t do anything with your ideas.  Let me repeat that

Creativity is not worth anything if you don’t do anything with your ideas.

Many of us give up on creativity. One thing universal about people living a creative life – they DO NOT GIVE UP!

Living creatively means looking at the world around you differently. Your imagination leads to thoughts, thoughts become words and words become action.

Most people believe you have to be a genius to be creative. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A GENIUS TO BE CREATIVE!

You learn to be creative by exploring, experimenting, questioning, processing information.

Think of creativity as a muscle that needs to be strengthened – that can only happen with repeated use!

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein

I don’t believe some people are born more creative than others. Creative people usually do six things throughout their lives, known as The Innovators DNA, things anybody can incorporate in their life.

  • Make CONNECTIONS between different things
  • QUESTION everything
  • OBSERVE everything
  • NETWORK (with like minded creative people)
  • EXPERIMENT
  • PRACTICE – the most important one of all!

Making the effort to live a creative life is be fully alive. Believe you can change the world!!!

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use it, the more you have.” Maya Angelou

So, I challenge you to spend some time thinking about what inspires you to create. You don’t have to paint the Mona Lisa, you can bake a cake, write a joke, put your clothes together differently, take a different route to the grocery store. It can be anything, it can be as silly as eating spaghetti with chopsticks.

Let me know where you find your creativity! Inspiration is all around you.