Getting Your Creative Juices Flowing

It's April 1st, and I so much want to write a spoof.  But I must confess that I am experiencing a tinge of responsibility for not having written a second edition in March and will no doubt find myself being way too serious.  What's my excuse?  I had been at a wonderful 3-day workshop called Fire in the Heart on the coast south of Boston (If you're a coach, I encourage you to seek this out... I'll gladly talk with you about my experience). After driving 6 hours (under a glorious full moon) returning home to Syracuse, I just didn't have the energy to make it happen.  Of course, it was midnight when I arrived home.  And then other stuff got in the way... yadda yadda... and it didn't happen.  And now...

Previously
In the previous issue, I wrote about being stuck. One of the top 9 reasons that people are stuck is lack of creative juice.  As it happens, I have developed a model which I believe will be of use in clarifying a variety of solutions.

The Frozen Juice Concentrate Model of Creativity

Frozen Juice is Frozen.  When you're stuck, it's likely your creativity is frozen.  Notice if this is true for you.  It's always a good idea to notice what is going on. What's going on on the surface; what's going on inside you; and what's going on around you.

• Ask yourself:  Are my creative juices flowing?
• Ask yourself:  Where am I displaying passion right now?

It's frozen for a reason.  Juice is frozen to keep it fresh.  Your creativity is frozen for different reasons (and there definitely are reasons).  What is freezing your creativity?

• What are the clues I can see?
• What do others notice about me... the quality of my work, the sparkle in my eye, and the snap in my step?

No blame, no guilt.  You know when you look in the 'fridge in the morning and there's no juice?  Does it help to blame yourself for not thinking ahead?  Not really.  You grab another can from the freezer and go to it.  Frozen creativity is not something to blame yourself for either.  Although your lack of self-care and attention to enhancing your creativity may have contributed to its ice-hard state, you didn't ask for it to be frozen.  

• Notice when you hit yourself with the lash of self-contempt.
• When you see it, say to yourself: "Whoa! That's interesting." 
• Then move on.

You have to get it out of the can.  When you want some juice, you actually have to do something. You can't just pour it out of the can.  You either have to scoop it out or warm it up enough that it slides out.  Doing something to get your creative juices out of "the can" will get you a lot farther than cursing its frozen state.  The change you want won't happen by accident.

• Am  I choosing to make a shift?   
• Am I willing to commit to time or energy or duration? 
• Who will I tell that I'm embarking on this personal project?

You have to add water.  Just as frozen juice concentrate requires water in order for it to be turned back into drinkable juice, reconstituting the juice of your creativity requires the addition of some other key ingredients.  As a professor or student, you are constantly creating.  You are writing, critiquing, mentoring, teaching, developing, proposing, and producing all sorts of things that emanate from you!  Is it surprising that at some point you might need to replenish your supply?  This is about experiencing the creativity of others in ways that interest you, but that you can't readily predict.

• Get the excellent and valuable book The Artist's Way at Work (see Resources, below) or another books that spark your creativity. Work through it. Some other ideas from this book:
• Go for a walk once a week (or more often) for a half hour in which you're not trying to get somewhere and in which you're not walking for exercise.
• Take yourself on an "Artist's Date" for 30 minutes to an hour weekly by yourself.  Go somewhere, explore something, that you're curious about.

You have to shake it or stir it.  Doing the same thing in the same way will lead to the same results.  

• Read a different style of book.
• Listen to different music.
• Visit places you would never have dreamed of visiting.
• Use expressive modalities you would never have used before (I have a friend who is getting certified as a DanceKinetics instructor, despite being a successful professor.)
• It's answering the question, "What would happen if...."  and doing it even if you don't have the answer.

You pour it out.  Discover ways to let your creativity flow from you uncritiqued, unconstrained, and unabashed.

• While there are many tools offered in The Artist's Way, the foundation is what they call Morning Pages.  Briefly: Write three pages (no more and no less) long-hand (unless you have a physical condition preventing it) as fast as you can (no editing), in the morning (it's not a review of the day nor a journal).  Notice the many "voices" that show up.  You don't have to do anything with them, just notice them.

Ahhh.  How did it taste?  What am I noticing about my creativity?

• Am I more expressive?
• Am I more productive?
• Am I enjoying myself more?
• How is my creativity flowing now?  Is it smooth, or does it have little flecks of pulp? Is there Calcium added?

Write me with your comments.  Let me know how this was helpful... or if you would like to explore the possibility that coaching would support you in making a shift around your creativity.

DanceKinetics anyone?

     Steve


Resources

The Artist's Way at Work: Riding the Dragon, by Mark Bryan, with Julia Cameron and Catherine Allen, "Brings the million-copy bestseller The Artist's Way (by Julia Cameron) into the workplace,"  and I highly recommend it.

If you're interested in purchasing The Artist's Way at Work: Riding the Dragon, it is  available in paperback.  I encourage you to support your local independent bookseller. However, should you not have one available to you, you can support me a smidgen by purchasing it at Amazon.com using this link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0688166350/reitercoaching.  I appreciate it.

I help university and college professors and doctoral candidates get more done, in less time, with less stress, and with more joy.

Sound good?  To explore whether coaching is for you, call me at 315-472-0504 or toll-free at 1-888-832-8421 to ask your questions.  If it looks like what you are looking to address is amenable to coaching, we can set up a complimentary coaching session. 

In this session, you would bring an important issue on which you'd like to move forward.  We'll spend about 45 minutes exploring what's up and how you might take action in a way that makes sense and feels right to you.  Most people take away something valuable from this session, whether it is by obtaining greater clarity, deepening their understanding of their situation, or having new insights. Most likely, you will also have some initial steps you know you can do to start moving forward.

If you decide that what you could gain by working with me regularly is worth it to you, you hire me.  If you're not sure, you don't.  Simple as that.  Nothing to lose... everything to gain, right? 

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