Several people who are reading my new book, 10 Little Rules For Your Creative Soul,  have asked me to explain further what I think creativity really means.  I love getting questions like this because without awareness, change and growth can not happen.  It means we are asking ourselves an important question…”How do I get unstuck?”  My short and sweet answer:  Expand your awareness and change accelerates.

Living a frustrated life is not creativity. Owning your creativity is being free.  Your creativity will give you the “yummy giggles” (see page 3 of my book).  Living a creative life is participating with joy in a life you love.  Creativity is connecting what you know with what you want.  Let me explain.  It’s really about removing the limits in your life.  Now let’s talk Clouds, Creativity and Courage.

CLOUDS – I love painting clouds (and the sea) so I began to do a large mural in what will be my new art gallery. I know how to paint clouds, and am also a believer in lifelong learning. So  I searched YouTube, my files, art instruction DVDs,  and online to see if I could add a technique or method to bump up my skill level.  I  spent hours and learned many fresh and effective ideas.  I tried one.  It looked bad.  An entire wall with the wrong color of paint for the sky I wanted, and clouds that looked like a pre-school art project.  I repainted the entire wall and started again.   The picture you see is what I produced after having the COURAGE to “just Do You” – Chapter 2 in my book.  MY gallery mural had to be MY clouds, so I painted MY clouds.  I think it looks good.  I have the yummy giggles looking at MY clouds when I walk into the room.

Chapter 3, “Put Courage Before Confidence,” speaks to the fact that we must have courage first before we are truly confident about doing most things.  We learn and study to become accomplished.  But without the courage to actually try something before we are certain and confident we can do it – that takes courage!  The doing, the hustle, the pushing through frustration into joy is what CREATIVITY is to me.   Recognizing that limiting beliefs about ourselves, feeling inadequate,  fearful of failing,  jealousy and doubt –  those thoughts and emotions are just visitors.  Think of them as clouds in the sky that come and go and change.  They need not be permanent.  What is permanent and noteworthy is the freedom of living your life “as if” your wildest dreams were reality…and trusting yourself enough to know what makes you happy and whole.    Living in your “present moment” as often as possible will get your unstuck faster than anything else I know.

I knew I wanted clouds in my mural.  I knew how to paint clouds.  That is what kept me on my journey to always do what feels right for me.  It also seems to get me what I want.  Funny how that happens.

Moments That Matter!

Rita