Let’s get this out-of-the-way…you are CREATIVE.  

Creativity is not reserved for the budding artists or musicians. It’s an integral part of who we are. The only thing that separates you from someone you view as more creative is a steady practice of using and developing your creative skills.

Creative people explore ideas, identify and solve problems, take risks, and expand the scope of what is possible. They are less self-interested and are more willing to engage and take a stronger interest in their own life.

Bubbling with creative energy, you are passionately alive.

Yet, much of society operates in a command and control environment. I ask, you do. Conditional relationships rule the day. Society isn’t fostering healthy creative relationships, it is attempting to dictate and control your behavior.

Is that how you want to live your life? 

Me neither. The only thing we can control is how we choose to show up and act. We have no one to blame. We are responsible for our own actions and behavior. We choose to store or release our creative energy. We choose to be creative or not.

Five keys to  fostering healthy creative relationships.

1. Freedom is control over our personal autonomy. Over control stifles our creative juices. People are more creative for others than they are for themselves. Give them permission to freely contribute in their own unique way. Help them feel they can work outside the scope of what’s asked of them, and think for themselves. Focus less on how things are done and more on outcome. Set people free, and you will set yourself free.
2. Friendlies encourage the quality of interaction over fierce competition. Create an environment where people support and add to each other’s contribution. Build interpersonal relationships that transcend an us versus them mentality. Reward collaboration over credit taking. Allow people to fail and to admit they don’t know what they don’t know. Encourage them to ask for help. Listen to their questions or concerns. Help them find the answers they seek. Curiously explore together. Be friendly.
3. Fun is playful behavior sparks our senses. We feel, taste, smell, imagine, hear, and follow the bliss of the moment. When we play…we prioritize every moment through curiosity, spontaneous adventure, and the value it will add to the fun factor. Fun reduces over inhibitions and raises our resistance to control. Life is suddenly less serious. Are we having fun yet?
4. Feedback  is a two-way conversation between mature adults. Be open and honest with people. Try not to judge or singled them out. When we judge, we  place conditions on relationships. I will only support you if you do x, y, and z. Judging is exactly what we do every time we complain, talk down to, or talk about someone behind their back. It takes 12 positive interactions to overcome the effects of one negative interaction. Spend more time thanking and praising people, and less time tear down their self-esteem. All change begins with you changing you attitude towards them. Next time you want to tear a person down, honestly ask yourself, what am I missing here? How can I help make this situation better? Accept responsibility for how you behave. Choose to unconditionally accept people for who they are. People who feel accepted for who they are will feel safe in sharing their ideas and contributing to yours. They will choose to seek and explore with you.
5. Flow is when time no longer matters. We are lost in the process of creation. We explore without succumbing to the pressure of our resistance. Passion and curiosity lead us to where we need to go. We follow without hesitation. We gladly jump into the river and let the current take us away. Flow invites more flow. Let go. Find your flow.

Your boundless creative energy is waiting to emerge. Release your conditional restraints and let your creativity flow. Find your key to becoming a creative genius.

Be the creative rock star I know you are.

What action can you take right now to release your creative energy?

We cannot escape the noise. Noises interrupt our life. Noise distracts us from focusing on what is important to us. Noise slows our progress towards accomplishing our goals and dreams. Noise blocks us from listening to our internal intuition. Noise stops us from taking purposeful action.

Not all noises are distractions we need to restrict from our diet. Reading expands our learning and teaches us about current thinking and trends. Listening to music brings calmness and stimulates our creative thinking. Watching videos helps us see the world through the creative lens of the content provider. Playing video games opens the door to competitive fun. Interacting with kids teaches us about ourselves and creates a window opportunity to see the world through curiosity and wonderment of a child. Engaging in conversation on a social media platform gives us a chance to share, connect, and learn about how we show up in the world.  Talking with friends and loved ones warms the heart.

Too much noise is the problem. We make a choice to succumb to the noise or to allow it to distract us from our personal growth. Like it or not, noise is a part of our lives and is here to stay.

We need to find a way to separate the distraction noise from purpose driven noise.

Wait….I like all the noises in my life. Of course you do. We are social animals and we like to keep ourselves busy. We like to go-go-go. We like instant gratification. Noise is an addiction.

Do you ever complain about not having enough time or being overwhelmed?  Do you wish you could do more of the things you love? Do you feeling trapped by your current situation? Answering “yes” to any of these questions, is a sign of noise controlling your life. The noise is keeping us from finding out who we really are and what we really want out of life.

We need to become more discipline and pragmatic with our approach to noise. Setting time boundaries around when and for how long we engage in noises is not good enough. Rigid structures tend to feel trapped and confining. They take away our freedom. They crush our spontaneous creative enjoyment of life.

We can navigate our way through the noise mind-field with a more nimble and flexible engagement plan. To be successful, we have to slow down and pay attention to what is happening inside us.

Slowing down creates new possibilities for ourselves. We think more creatively, make better decisions, and move rapidly towards our desires. We aligned with what matters most to us.  We act on purpose. We do away with the noise.

Is the noise controlling you or are you controlling the noise?

After days of talking about it, the snow has begun to fall. Anticipation has built all week. We expect a historic snow of 16-24 inches. It is all we can talk about. It is all the Media can talk about.  We do not want our daily lives to be disrupted. We do want our freedoms to be restricted. We resist anything that might take this away from us. We fear the snow-pocalypse.  Panic and fear is ruling the day.

Grocery stores are sold out of milk, bread, and eggs. The local hardware store had a line of 20 people 30 minutes before opening today. Businesses closed in advance of the storm. Schools closed in advance of the storm. County governments are telling people to prepare to be trapped in their houses for 3-5 days.  We are becoming a soft society consumed by our fears.

Dec '09 Snow-pocalypse

Fear mongering did not exist in the December 2009 blizzard. Why you ask? The answer is simple, the media only prepared us for 6-8 inches of snow. The 16-24 inches we received was a surprised to all.  We dealt with the situation, we did not panic; we did not fear the unknown. We accepted our faith and made the best of it.

This time is different. Fear of the unknown has taken control of the conversation.  Snow-Pocalypse is pulling our inner fears to the surface. These raw fears and emotions are controlling our decision making and actions.

What we focus on drives our perception of the world.

When we choose not to succumb to our fears, we can choose to focus our energy and thoughts on more positive snow-pocalypse outlook.

I look forward to spending quality time with my wife and kids.  I want to make snowmen, to sled ride, to have snowball fights, to make snow angels, to shovel my sidewalks, to help my neighbors, to have fun, and to witness all the beauty Mother Nature has to offer.

Is panic and fear controlling your life? Are you afraid of a little snow?

When you think about the word “permission”, what thoughts or feelings enter your body?

My natural state of being equates asking for permission to seeking approval.  I feel an uneasy inward energy rush, as if my body is bracing itself for rejection.  I have immediate memories of asking for something and being told “NO.” Spoken and unspoken thoughts of “it’s NOT fair,” “you NEVER let me do it,” “WWWHHHYYY?” enter my consciousness.

Revisiting these emotions is not something I can easily enjoy.  These feelings make it harder for me to recall all the times when I received “yes” for an answer.  They make is hard for me to embrace all that is good in my life.

I give myself permission to honor the old emotions and feelings. I give myself permission to push this negative energy from my being.  I give myself permission to let more positive joyful energy back in.  I give myself permission to breathe and embrace life again.

I feel much better now. With practice, it is amazingly easy to give myself permission to live in the present moment without allowing the past to send me into a downward spiral.  I love my life of giving myself permission.

Hmm…what else can I do?

I give myself permission to:

• love myself for who I am
• love others for who they are
• trust myself
• admit I don’t know
• ask for help
• play and have fun
• dream
• be spontaneous
• say “yes” to what I want
• say “no” to requests

What do you want to give yourself permission to do?

Make a list and fell free to share it with the world.  No permission or approval is required.

Our journey through life is eerily similar to a roller coaster ride.  We travel unknowing on a track that has many vicissitudes, twists, turns, loops, tunnels, and variable speeds.  Hopes, dreams, and expectations are set prior to the coaster living the station.

We embark towards adulthood by traveling up a steep incline.  The ascent to the top of a hill requires tremendous energy and a slow deliberate pace. The pace gives us an opportunity to find our bearings, establish our foundation, and grow into our journey. Anticipation and expectations intensify as we near the top.

Reaching the top ignites a celebration for all that we have accomplishment. We find ourselves traveling along a plateau seeing the world in a different light. Peace and calm set in. We are comfortable, but there is this unsettled energy running through our veins.  Something is missing.

Faster than we can say “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” we take a sharp unexpected steep descent. The race to the bottom happens in a flash with incredible speed.  Our emotions bubble to the surface as quickly as we lose our stomach.  Our physical body oscillates around our seat desperately seeking safety, security and stability of the plateau.  We do not have time to think.  We can only react. We have lost control.

Roller coasters travel a predictable path.  Engineers designed the ride to produce the same experience ride after ride. They have planned set of controlled events with a defined beginning and end.  We as riders do not experience each coaster ride the same every time.

Our emotional and physical response to each twist and turn can be very unpredictable from ride to ride. The more tightly we cling to control, the more fear, angst, and uneasiness we bring into our experience.  The less we enjoy the ride.  The more we let go of control, the more laughter, joy, and happiness will rule the day.  The more we enjoy the ride, the more we are ready to experience more rides.

We are in control of our roller coaster experience.  We can cling to our pre-programmed engineered response or we can let go and allow ourselves to have a new experience.   We are responsible for our roller coaster life experience.

Strap in. Take a deep breath. Relax and enjoy the ride!