Remember being bored as a kid? We were pushed outdoors and told to “go play”. And then what happened? Out of boredom came unspeakable adventures and untold risk. Play took over and cool stuff got created. With our release into nature and our blissful freedom, magic occurred. We built dams, climbed trees, created caves in the woods, and lemonade stands in the front yard.
In this space of no agenda lives a highly underrated commodity…our creativity and genius for invention and innovation. When given space our playful curiosity begins to experiment which leads to creative adventures as varied as nature itself.
When is the last time you played with an idea, notion, an inkling without trying to make it into something right then and there? Looking into the void, playing for the fun of playing, taking a shower, running unencumbered, walking in the woods, or driving without our devices opens a space for unexpected observations and intuitive inklings to come into our quieted minds.
As creatives, and, yes, we are all creative, we need to be left alone to work, or as I have come to see work, play. Interrupted with endless questions, people poking at our project, or forcing us to talk about what we’re doing, is not supportive.
Robert Fritz, author of The Path of Least Resistance, states very clearly the difference between problem solving and creating. Fritz states, “problem solving is taking action to have something to go away. Whereas creating is taking action to have something come into being – the creation. Getting rid of what you don’t want is different from creating what you do want.”
We must first birth the child before exposing it to the larger “family”. Our job is to back-off and let the process breathe and unfold. Our goal oriented society has little experience, or tolerance, with the gentle unfolding of anything. This is our challenge to quiet the mind and allow our heart and intuition to speak to us. The media, internet, or TV are not where our creativity lives, although there are ideas and source materials here, of course. Often I get into overload on information and ideas and need to return to less is more.
Our sense of emergency and impatience to create something new for ourselves is why we often push the process by not allowing time to play with the ideas. Without the time, we end up with just another version of what we’ve had (created) before. We desire more and we deserve more. Our being wants to reinvent, transform and come to new and more satisfying experiences in our lives.
Getting started on the new, or anything for that matter, is always the most difficult . I have a variety of
ways for tricking myself into “just start” actions. I say things to myself like, “just give it 15 minutes”, “just pull weeds in that area”, “just throw some paint on paper and let it rip”, “just write some words, it doesn’t matter what it is”. I see what happens when I JUST START. Next thing I know, I’m transplanting from here to there; next I’m watering, next digging, next creating a new fern bed.
Just go outside, sit in the backyard and breathe. We can do this. Observe nature and its’ ability torenew itself. And while you’re at it, go take a hike! Studies are now reporting that time spent in nature increases performance of creativity by 50% in all age groups.
