Flexing the imaginative mind: 3 ways to give your creativity room to run.

Adult and child psychiatrist, Edward Hallowell said, “What is creativity after all, but impulsivity gone right?!” I am inclined to agree. Creativity needs room to breath deeply and run where it may. Right now, life is all kinds of all over the place. My responsibilities aren’t as structured as before. I don’t know about you but I need to really work to make sure I have the space and the time to let my creativity run wild. It is a combination of space, time and permission. It is easy to feel guilty about using time to devote to creativity when so many other areas of our lives are demanding our attention, work, parenting, relationships, dust on the base boards (why does that last one only bother me when I sit down to start writing?).

There are a many different way to exercise your creative mind. I feel however like 2020 has some unique circumstances that have required some out of the box ideas. Here are just three ideas to help create space for creativity thrive.

1. Get everyone on board. My people are in my house; All Of The Time. They follow me everywhere. I have two children and two dogs who prefer to be in the same room with me and they are not quiet. Quarantine slayed my creativity. I have had to have conversations with my husband and children about the importance of me having time to write. For the month of November, I am participating in NaNoWriMo, National November Writing Month. I have included my family in the fun and the importance of getting my write time each day. The goal is to write 50,000 word in a month which means 1,667 words a day. I need to remind them often and sometimes I’m hiding in my car or the camper in the driveway but helping them understand the importance writing has for me and sharing that with them, helps them understand they can support me in it just as I support them in those things they are passionate about.
2. Find other creatives. Before 2020, I had a wonderful creative writing group. We got together once a week. Having relationships with other writers and creative people helps in priceless ways. Having people to share your passion ignites the flames like oxygen to fire. Having people to listen and hash out ideas makes working through trouble areas actually fun. One of my favorite things in the world is my late night Facebook messenger chats with my fellow writer, Christina Brandal when we are working through her character ideas and plot plans for her books. In turn, having the outside view points of what I am writing makes a huge difference. This means, phone calls, texting, Face time or Zoom group time with other writers or braving it and going out for coffee or whatever. I see my imagination as a horse needing to run. Sometimes she likes to run along side other imaginations.
3. Field trips! Sometimes just getting out of the house helps but more specifically go places for the pure purpose of letting your imagination out. There is a beautiful park called The Lions Gate Bridge on the James River. There are giant marble lion statues. There is also the beautiful white marble statue of a girl sitting curled up on a platform in a pond. Her chin is resting on her knee as she gazes into the water. I absolutely love to sit and watch her, imagining what she is thinking about. What is her life like? Why is she alone? What about the giant lions? What are the protecting or defending? What about the James River? What history has taken place on that water?

These ideas are not just for writing either. Any creative art form applies. I would also like to add that getting out on field trips can also apply to just general mental health as well as finding people that share the same passions or hobbies to bond over. We are made for relationships and community. Time spent on something you love can only have a positive impact on the rest of the things that take your time and make up your day.