Sarah Boyd

REFRAME YOUR BRAIN

The 9 most powerful questions to get perspective in a difficult situation

Releasing Creativity – Removing Blocks & Entering Flow


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Creativity is the expression of an idea, insight, or inspiration.

It is the capacity to see something, & transform it into something beautiful and meaningful.

Creativity does not only include painting, writing, or making things;

it is also the seed idea that births businesses & ministries;

it’s also the inspiration that makes your house a home for your family;

it is also the vision that drives companies & individuals.

Creativity is a powerful, driving force behind everything meaningful in this world.

 

And yet so many of us, disqualify ourselves from engaging in this life-giving experience.

We believe that only some people are ‘creative’, & we fit into the category of those that are ‘not’.

The truth is creativity lies within every one of us.

The expression may look different, but the experience is the same.

You may have never considered yourself to be ‘creative’ before, but what if you are wrong?

What if locked inside of you is a visionary, an innovator, a creator… but you’ve never given it permission to come out?

 

Many times we are unaware that we are not living out our greatest creative expression.

The symptoms of the un-lived creative life, don’t seem obvious, or necessarily directly linked. 

But creativity is not dormant.

If creativity is repressed, it will find other ways of being expressed. 

Sometimes it’s expressed through a constant experience of fear, anxiety or even depression;

Sometimes it’s expressed through self-destructive behaviors such as addictions;

Sometimes it’s expressed through comparison or jealousy, about what everyone else is doing.

 

Brene Brown says it this way,

“Unused creativity is not benign. It metastasizes. It turns into grief, rage, judgement, sorrow, shame. We are creative beings. We are by nature creative. It get’s lost along the way. It get’s shamed out of us.”

Creativity is not something we can ‘make happen’, but rather it is returning to our natural state.

Therefore, in order to experience flow we must identify & remove the blockages to creativity.

BLOCKS TO CREATIVE FLOW –

 

1. Negative Emotions

Negative emotions such as fear or doubt are a significant block to creative flow.

Many people falsely believe that pain & emotional suffering will result in greater creativity.

While it is true that creativity can transform pain into something meaningful & beautiful; chasing these negative experiences will only result in a short-lived creative journey.

 

We cannot receive insight or ideas, when we are stressed & upset.

Studies show that we need to be in a certain physical state, in order to access insight or creativity.

While measuring individual’s brain wave activity, neuroscientists are able to predict up to 8 seconds before, when an individual is going to have a moment of insight or creative break-through. 

This prediction is based on the presence of ‘alpha’ brain waves.

An ‘alpha brain wave state’ is when we are relaxed, but still awake.

They are present when you’re daydreaming, practicing mindfulness meditation, in the shower, or after aerobic exercise.

Therefore if we want to get into creative flow, we must prioritize activities that help us remove negativity & get into a good emotional state. 

 

2. Lack of Personal Responsibility

Taking personal responsibility is the only way to access your creative flow.

It can often be difficult to identify if you are taking personal responsibility.

Many people who are blocked creatively believe themselves to be a very ‘responsible’ person.

They are the nice one; the one doing the ‘right thing’; the loyal one; the one putting everyone else’s needs before their own.

They are also the ones self-sacrificing their own dreams.

And they have been doing this for so long that they either feel lost within themselves, or they find an underlying bitterness towards the people they have been sacrificing for.

Ask yourself – Who have you been blaming that you’re unable to life your creative life?

You are not serving anyone by allowing the gifts & ideas to remain dormant within.

We must take personal responsibility & redefine what ‘serving the world’ really means.

 

3. Un-investigated Personal Identity

Our personal identity – who we believe we are in the world – is unconsciously defined for us by our family of origin & our past life experiences.

If we had early experiences that shamed our creative expression, we quickly learn to hide & push away that expression.

In the same way, if we experience success through a certain way of being in the world, it can also develop a strong personal identity.

Once we have developed a strong personal identity, it can be very difficult to imagine ourselves as anything else.

 

But what if all of your previous ideas about yourself & your identity were wrong?

What if they have limited you into a version of yourself that is caged from greater possibilities in life?

What if there is a meaningful, unique contribution you’re supposed to make in this world, but it is locked inside of you by your old identity?

 

Stephen Pressfield, in ‘The War of Art’ says:

“Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”

 

We must take the time to investigate who we really are.

What inspires you?

What lights you up?

What crazy dreams did you have as a child that you’ve forgotten about?

 

Every unique and meaningful contribution we will make in the world will be born of creativity. 

Rather than disqualifying ourselves from this experience, we each have a personal responsibility to remove blocks so we can access creative flow.

What ideas, art, businesses, innovations, or creations will be birthed, because you personally had the courage to allow them to be expressed?

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REFRAME YOUR BRAIN

The 9 most powerful questions to get perspective in a difficult situation.

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