Creativity skills for everyone! I have many simple ways to be creative in life. It is just how I roll. If I need a new garden, I will get creative about it and make something beautiful. You can easily think up creative things to do at home when bored.
The creative impulse rarely comes in only one format like painting...unless you have a team of people doing everything else for you.
If I asked you to write down a list of all the ways you utilize your creativity, you would end up with a list! Yes, even if you think you aren’t creative. In fact, that would be a great exercise for you.
There are many ways to be creative without being artistic too. Some ideas are cooking, gardening, decorating. There are many ways to be creative at home. You get it, now write that list.
If I put a stop to all my creativity, I would end up being a couch potato. I would be so bored and frustrated I would probably get depressed.
Everyone needs creative projects, especially when they retire. How many people have you heard of who retire, do nothing, and then get a life-threatening illness and/or die?
Unfortunately, there are many people who go this route. Many think that when they retire is when they will pick up a hobby. But very often doesn’t work either. If it has worked for you then that is fabulous...congratulations! You can live another 20, 30 or even 40 years.
I once took some yoga lessons at our local Buddhist centre. They do many free meals and events for the community. Anyway, the teacher of these yoga lessons was a 104-year-old Chinese woman. She took up yoga when she was about 69. When she was in her 60s, she went to England and studied nursing, while she learnt the English language! Once she had her nursing under her belt, she was 70. So, she spent the next 30 years building old age homes to help the old people she came across. At 104, when asked what she was currently doing, she said she looks after old people and travels the world teaching yoga, Buddhism, and life skills.
She operated daily on creative thinking and then acting on it. She had no money to build old age homes. She had to be creative to find sponsors and donors of money, time, and hard work. She had to get these homes passed through Chinese authorities. She came from the peasant class with only rudimentary education.
Participating in her classes was an experience I will never forget. I will always remember that woman and her ability to reinvent herself in her 60s and 70s. It is never too late to throw new things into your life.
Of course, there are many stories out there of how people have risen up and done extraordinary things. Read these stories, watch documentaries, and be inspired by the things others have done.
Never be discouraged by their great feats. Just do small things. Last night I saw a good news story about a group of women who make Knitted Knockers...here in Brisbane Australia. They knit prosthetic breasts for women who have had mastectomies and are the main supplier for the women’s hospital. They just get together and make these bra inserts. That is creative power!
So, hop to it! Get creative. Make something, fix something, find others who are making things, and love your life.
Cheers
Carol :)