Creativity is tricky business. We generally agree that it should be easy and fun. And it is, when we’re in the groove with all systems go. Sometimes, though, we need a swift kick to get ourselves going. We need to dare, to dream, to live large, to make mistakes.

When you come right down to it, creativity is based on choices we make, just like everything else. We have to choose which brush to use and which color, which word, which bat, which foot first, which direction. And then we have to let go.

Sometimes the right words can inspire us. Maybe  quote like these:

You must always take risks when experimenting.
–Finn Family Moomintroll, Tove Jansson, 1948

I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 things that do not work.
–Thomas A. Edison

Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.
–Oscar Wilde

Art is either plagiarism or revolution.
–Paul Gauguin

Or maybe just do something, anything a little different–use your left hand instead of your right or vice versa. Close your eyes, hop on a brand new ride. You get the picture.

Maybe a book can get us going. We recently conducted a workshop for adults based on Margaret Peot’s  book, Inkblots. It was great fun, plopping some beautiful colored ink onto paper, folding it over, and then seeing what you got, and thinking about what your blobs might suggest.

Whatever you do, you have to begin. So go for it. And have fun!

Filed under: Random Thoughts