(Photo credit: James Vaughan Photography)
What Does It Mean To Live A Creative Life?
Essentially, it is a mindset where you choose to live your life each day with awareness and intention, by following your curiosity and trying new things and finding joy in the journey as you seek self-expression and personal connection.
Why Live A Creative Life? What Are The Benefits?
Some benefits are self-expression, personal growth through learning, increased happiness and well-being by increasing confidence (taking risks can increase confidence), reducing stress, living a life of purpose, creating and seeking connections and being authentic.
How Do I Live A Creative Life?
4 Keys: Make Time. Make Space. Fill The Well. Capture Your Ideas.
1. Make Time:
We start bymaking the time for the things we love. We all only have 24 hours in a day. It’s so easy to get busy and forget to make time for ourselves. Take an honest look at your schedule. Ask yourself, where do I waste time? And how can I reclaim it for something I really want to do? Is it tv time in the evening, social media scrolling, youtube binging?
Pockets Of Time: We don’t need hours of uninterrupted time to spend on our creativity (but whoohoo if you have it). Look for small pockets of time to give to your creative pursuits whether it’s dance practice, making a costume or writing a blog. This is how we live a creative life.
Routines: Create routines to save you time. Build them into your schedule. This is your promise to yourself that you will follow through. Consistently showing up builds discipline which builds a habit. Building a habit builds momentum and takes less effort to get started. Our habits grow stronger over time as we use them until they become a part of our daily lives. We won’t need to waste energy thinking about it, we just do it. So you can save your energy for your dancing.
2. Make Space:
Physical Space:We need a physical space to dance. Choose your place and try your best to keep it picked up. Using the same space every time (if possible) can be added onto the benefits of routines and habits. Habits reduce resistance to getting started. Prepare the space by storing your basic supplies there. In my dance space, I have a basket with current cds, dvds, hip scarf, zills, a hair scrunchie and always a notebook and pens.
Mental Space: We also need to make space in our minds and hearts. It can be challenging to switch mental gears from work and family responsibilities to your creative time.
Rituals: Create mindset shifts using rituals. Rituals are powerful ways to train your brain to switch gears and get in the zone. Something simple like listening to the song you want to dance to a few times before starting or watching the choreography you’re learning or maybe pick a random song to warm up and improv to. Use any ritual you like to help you shift into dance mode.
Daydream: Creativity is not always found on demand. Make time to do nothing and let your mind wander. Inspiration is often a quiet voice (a spark) and needs silence to be heard.
3. Fill The Creative Well:
Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way talks about refilling the creative well; the idea being that creatives need a lot of input to draw inspiration from. Think of our creativity source as a well of energy and inspiration. If you only remove from the well and it never gets refilled, it will eventually run dry. You need to keep filling the well, so you have something to work with to generate new ideas for your creativity.
Be Curious: Go somewhere new. Try something new. Awareness leads to ideas. Seek them out.
Connect: All creatives need to connect with others who share their passion. We need community to learn from each other and get inspired. Enjoy other peoples’ creativity like dance shows, art shows, and concerts. Try finding a community (or building one) of people who share your creative pursuits. We are social beings and we need belonging.
Expand: Explore other art forms for inspiration. You can even combine them by writing about belly dancing, painting or drawing belly dance images and dancing to other kinds of music.
Play: Have fun and play. Try improvising to music and BE in the moment. Turn off your brain and let your body move. Experiment with makeup and costume looks. Try a new dance style or prop. Follow your heart and do what excites you.
Read: Reading is the # 1 Way for any creative to fill their well. It fills your head and fuels your imagination. Read belly dance related books, articles and blogs. Join discussion groups to learn what other dancers are talking about. Reading about other creative arts works too.
Share: Creatives have a strong desire to express themselves through their art and sharing is part of the process. For dancers, that means performing; whether it’s a small hafla with classmates or a bigger show. Preparing for a performance creates excitement (and maybe nerves). It may be a chance to connect to others dancers. Performing gives you experience and that can build confidence. You may choose to get feedback on your performance. It could be from another dancer, teacher or your video camera. You can use that to help you learn and grow.
More Ideas For Dancers:
Explore new and old music, dvds and choreographies. Take classes regularly with new and different teachers and content. Ex: The Bellydance Bundle has lots of topics and teachers. Or you could study with 1 dance teacher for a deeper training and focus. Aziza, Sadie and Sahira all have an abundance of class options online. Tip: Make a budget for your learning.
How I Fill My Well:
As A Writer: I read. A lot. I collect books. I have a home library. I also go to the library and book stores, wandering the aisles to see what might interest me. I read poetry, fiction and nonfiction.
As A Dancer: I watch a lot of performances (dvds, youtube, shows). I listen to and search for belly dance music. I read belly dance books and blogs. I search and save photos that inspire me. I participate in facebook groups. And most importantly, I try to do a few belly dance practices every week.
4. Capture Your Ideas:
You can write it, sketch it, record it, photograph it. Whatever medium allows you to grab and save that idea spark for when you have the time to explore it. Collecting ideas is building your resources to create. Digital options include Pinterest boards, youtube playlists etc. Paper options can be notebooks, scrapbooks, books etc. Photos can be both. You can take your own photos or be inspired by others. Decide how you will save and organize them. My paper notebook is usually the first place I capture an idea. Later, I type and sort into files by subjects like music lists, choreography ideas etc.
Feeling Stuck? Here Are Some Ideas To Help:
Breathe: Breathwork or conscious breathing uses breathing exercises to help us relax, reduce stress and anxiety and increase energy. It’s a great practice for overall health and a few minutes in the moment may be all you need to get unstuck. Don’t force yourself to be creative. Too much pressure can cause stress and block your creativity.
Mindfulness: Sometimes we end up on autopilot and just go through the motions and routines of our days. Becoming aware and present and living in the moment. That’s where our power is. That’s the moment we can choose how to live and experience our life. You may be feeling stuck because you have too many thoughts and ideas crowding your brain. Focus on 1 priority for that moment in time (or dance practice).
Move: When your brain is stuck, move your body. Get up and move around if you’re sitting down. Go for a walk outside in nature. Look around and notice what’s in front of you. Be in the present moment. Go somewhere new. Exercise. Do some yoga and stretch. If you want to dance but feel tired and uninspired to create, put on some fabulous music (old favorites or something new) and let yourself go. Don’t think.
Praise: Nothing blocks creativity faster than criticizing ourselves before, during or after the process of making our thing. Enjoy the process. Improve it later if you wish, but enjoy that process too. Be kind to yourself. Appreciate your efforts and give yourself a “pat on the back”. Seek encouragement from others.
Rest: Take breaks as you need them whether it’s throughout the day or taking extended time off for days or longer. Remember that rest is an important part of the productivity cycle. It’s restorative and natural; creating a balanced and sustainable life. When you take breaks, make sure it is both a physical and mental break. Basically, do something else and think about something else.
Support: From yourself: fill your creative well. Prioritize your health like good sleep and nutrition. From friends and family: ask for what you need (privacy, time, quiet, no interruptions during practice time). From your dance community: ask for advice or encouragement when you’re feeling stuck.
Creativity ebbs and flows. Life can get busy and stressful. We may have nothing left to be creative and that’s okay. Sometimes in life, our creativity will be in high gear and other times it’s quiet and waiting.
Summary:
We are creative beings and our lives are filled with creative activities every day; whether it is a clear art form like writing or dancing or something simple like how we chose an outfit, cook a meal or apply our makeup. Choosing to live a creative life enriches many lives: ours, our loved ones and our community. Give yourself permission to thrive.
Questions: What kind of creative activities do you enjoy? How do you make time for creativity in your daily routine?
Reference Books On Creativity: The Artists Way by Julia Cameron, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp (dancer and choreographer)
Kelly Picard Books 