You Might Just Surprise Yourself
So, I haven’t TOUCHED my knitting needles in at least three years. And to be honest, it’s not like I was ever I master at knitting in the first place.
I was perusing the aisles at Tuesday Morning a couple of weeks ago and spotted two balls of the most gorgeous yarn I’d seen in quite some time. I threw it in my cart. I put it back on the shelf two different times before I finally grabbed it on my way to the register at the front of the store.
Knitting? I’ve already got so many crafting and writing projects to keep me busy. Why should I waste my time on something I’m sure I’ve forgotten how to do?
I can’t tell you how glad I am that I fought off that voice of negativity and bought some beautiful yarn. If I had given in to the pessimist inside, I would have created this beautiful pouch out of that beautiful yarn:
My Point?
Of course I have one!
The worst “creativity killer” we encounter is none other than that lovely mug we see in the mirror each day. Negative thoughts have more power than we often realize. That’s what makes them so dangerous.
Pessimistic thoughts have this uncanny ability to find that one loose thread dangling from our sweater. It may start with just a few small inches coming loose. But as soon as one negative thought grabs hold of that thread, everything comes unraveled much quicker and easier than you anticipated.
Fight Your Negative Judgments
Don’t give into negativity today. Prove your pessimist wrong and do something those negative opinions tell you that you can’t do. And do it well.
How will you prove those negative thoughts wrong?
A Special Kind of Inspiration
“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”
— Arthur Ashe —
When someone receives an unexpected gift, no matter the size or scope, there’s something about that moment when they first realize it. It’s that selfish reason that we give. The reason that makes us feel good inside.
And, if I’m not there for the moment, just the thought of passing along a brighter spot for someone’s day, well, honestly it allows to see the bigger picture.
Talk about an inspiring feeling.
I’ve been inspired by Cami Walker’s 29-Day Giving Challenge.
Creating 29 little bright spots in other people’s lives - I can’t think of a better way to challenge my creativity for the next 4 weeks. Keep up with my blog to see my 29-day journey.
Defining Creativity
Recently on Copyblogger, Brian Clark posed one of the questions that I love most in this world: “What Does Creativity Mean to You?” I think my fascination with the question is the simple fact that there are millions of definitions for creativity - none 100 percent right or wrong. Each person has their own definition for what creativity means inside their own world.
I recently Mooched Jack Foster’s How to Get Ideas I’ve only read the first few chapters so far, but the first chapter alone is worth getting the book. In Chapter One, Foster seeks to define the abstract notion of an ‘idea.’ He includes contributions from former students, knowledgeable scholars and famous authors.
Each definition seems to ring truer than the one before it. Many have the same essence as the definitions of ‘creativity’ that Brian includes on his blog. But, all have something similar at their core — the concept of the unexpected.
Ideas do seem to come us at unexpected (and inopportune) times: in the shower, waiting in line at the bank, chatting on the phone with a friend. But, where the unexpected plays the biggest role is in content; our best ideas tend be the ones that are most unexpected by those around us.
Think of any advertisement you’ve liked over the years. What was the thing that appealed to you most? Was it funny, sad, inspiring? Why was it funny, sad, inspiring?
More than likely, your answer to the last question has something to do with the fact that it was different, unique…..UNEXPECTED.
My favorite explanation for ‘ideas’ from Chapter One of Mr. Foster’s book:
A man becomes creative, whether he is an artist or scientist, when he finds a new unity in the variety of nature. He does so by finding a likeness between things which were not thought alike before….The creative mind is a mind that looks for unexpected likeness. - Jacob Bronowski
