The CCS Ultimate Creativity List...

[Dan Goodwin]

I had an idea based on a discussion in the Thirty Days of Creating group. Let's create a combined list of all the many different ways we can be creative.

There must be hundreds!

Then anyone who starts to feel they're not being very creative can visit here and realise how much they're creating and not acknowledging.

It's easy to think of yourself only being creative when it's some recognised art form, like painting a picture, or writing a story, or taking a photograph.

But what about all the other ways, like how you dress, preparing a delicious meal, creating connections and relationships with others, creating space in your house and mind for new creativity, to give just a few examples...

Everyone free to contribute, just list below all the different ways you create, or could create...

[Dan Goodwin]

Ah they're all great examples Barb! I think we overlook things like creating a healthy lifestyle and creating a maintaining relationships, but they're so fundamental to a happy balanced creative life.

And yes all of us who contribute on CCS are playing our part in creating a positive, supportive community, and that leads to creating inspiration and motivation and energy and creativity in others...

(Good to see you by the way Barb : ) )

[Jules]

I used to think that I had to do something new, awesome and amazing to be creative...I have since discovered that I am being creative if I simply do something new to me, something I have never done before.

This can be as simple of driving a different route to and from work, putting my socks on before my jeans instead of the habitual way.Trying a different spice in my cooking.

Today I am being creative figuring out how to dress in the proper amount of layers in the best order for work. I need them all in the morning and typically only a t-shirt by late afternoon. I have begun to bring an empty laundry basket to toss the layers in as I go...I end up with an armful by the days end and the basket is very helpful

[Diane O]

There are some great examples here. I, too, find that bookmarking art sites and revisiting them online can really get the creativity flowing. I've also been watching documentaries on various artists which are inspirational. Max Ernst found the blank paper or canvas very intimidating. To overcome that, he'd do pencil rubbings by holding the paper or canvas over a textured item, often wood boards, and make a drawing from the impressions it left. My blank walls are intimidating to me. I have so much to hang up but can't decide where to hang it or how to arrange it. I found a nice twiggy branch that I nailed up on the wall and will build on that theme and hang nature art, photos and items around it. Usually taking one simple item and building on it can get the creativity unstuck.

[Dan Goodwin]

I talked about a similar way to get started in a new blog post today. I think sometimes we expect the first word or sentence we write (to use writers as an example) has to be brilliant, the best thing we've ever written. Whereas in fact it just has to be SOMEthing, which will then lead on to other thoughts, ideas, words.

I often write a new piece where I start with something, just to get going, end up at a complete tangent, and simply use the last three quarters of what I've written as the main piece. The opening quarter can be seen as an essential way to have got my writing juices flowing, but it doesn't have to be used in the final piece...