Need a steady ‘stream of creativity’? Practice being proactively creative

I have often written here about the unpredictability of creative outlets, the inspiration that comes in the most strangest time and situations, but can we really do something about it and take just a little bit control over it?

What I observed in my years of research and work is that we as humans tend to be reactively creative. It means that we search for creative solutions and answers mostly when we are challenged to do so.

For example:

1. A problem or difficult situation appears in our lives;
2. The situation makes us feel really constrained to the point it provokes us to ‘take the things into our hands’ and solve it;
3. The problem is out of range of our typical solving problem skills – it requires of us to think differently and come up with a creative, non-standard solution.

When these 3 things happen, then we are prompted to react to a problem and get creative.

What if we take a stand to be proactive about our creativity? Actually, can we practice creativity regularly? Some experts claim you need to be proactive about your creativity to discover and manifest your true potential as a person.

We are creatures of habits and conformity. Most of us are dreaded by the thought of any change in our lives. But if we do make a little challenges for us every day, we are actually practicing our creativity, being proactive about it.

As Brian Eno puts it in this interview:

The point about working is not to produce great stuff all the time, but to remain ready for when you can.There’s no point in saying, ‘I don’t have an idea today, so I’ll just smoke some drugs.’ You should stay alert for the moment when a number of things are just ready to collide with one another… The reason to keep working is almost to build a certain mental tone, like people talk about body tone.

So what can you do to practice proactive creativity? For example: take participation in the activities in your community, take an art class, invent new recipes – learn to cook new dishes, travel and learn new language, try new sports or dance, eat with chopsticks instead of using fork all the time, change your usual route to work/school.

Try and experience something different form your current skill sets  –  you may be pleasantly surprised by the fresh creativity that will start to pour in. It’s a kind of preparation phase as B. Eno says, when unpredictable good ideas appear – you are ready to make the most of them.

We can design our lives in such way we invite creativity every day- it’s up to us.

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