CREATIVITY

My head hurts! lol...
Not a headache, not a bump.

One of the joys of life for me are the unpredictible times when I find I have SO MANY ideas rushing in it's nearly a physical sensation... It's a wonderous gift that arrives unbidden and leaves much as it comes, unexpectedly and determinedly.

My students often ask me about 'where creativity comes from'? It's a much harder question to answer than 'where do babies come from', lol... For me it has always been there, arriving like a crashing wave on the beach. Bundles of ideas that flow thru my mind at breakneck speed. A nearly physical sensation as I said, with a corellating emotional rush of well being.

Early in my journey as an artist it vexed me that I couldn't 'control' it, summon it if you will to suit myself. But as time went on I thankfully developed the sense to understand it for the wonder that it is. But I don't think it's a question of 'your're born with it or you're not'. Returning again to discussions with students I've often said (and seen) that for the majority it turns out to be more a question of connecting to your creative side again as an adult. In a marketing class I taught last nite a student made an insightful observation: "the corporate world conditions you to diminish your sense of doing things your way". As does for some, family, spouse, time constaints to name a few. It's wonderful to watch my students who consider themselves to be 'uninspired' discover that the flow of creativity IS there, be it a beadmaking idea or a marketing idea. If you set out to UNLEARN the habit of thinking within constraint when it comes to your art, the ideas trickle in, then they flow. It will always be a very personal, individual process, but very few people are actually uninspired. You just need to re-learn how to hear the whispers (which is by the way different than hearing voices, lol). Eventually you will likely find "your head hurts too" from the ideas rushing in! :-).

Now if we can just figure out how to have it happen on demand :-)