Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterized by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.
These days it seems like people do not have much imagination anymore. With television coming into the equation, people now are visually inspired instead of being inspired by their imagination.
People don’t sit and read a book and then mentally visualize the characters in their heads, because they don’t have to. “It’s just easier to watch a movie.”
Lately movies have become so dull and the story lines are so crappy, there is hardly anything that is worthwhile to watch. Although technology has its rightful place in the universe, it has also taken away a lot of our imagination.
Small children are no longer stimulated by someone reading books to them, they are simply placed in front of the television watching cartoons that do not stimulate their creativity.
Good stories often become best sellers and then it is turned into a movie. The movie makers don’t even have to think of a proper story line because it’s been done for them already.
How do we stimulate our creativity and our imagination?
Switch off the television – Televisions do not inspire you. It makes you duplicate things instead of visualizing it on your own.
Read a book and try to visualize the characters.
Write for the fun of it. Take a pen and paper and start writing about any topic. If you struggle to find a topic, imagine a piece of fruit and describe it in as much detail as possible.
Take one object and write a paragraph about it. Take a different object and write a second paragraph. In your third paragraph bring the two together and combine both the objects into one paragraph.
Do something that you enjoy. Forget about everything else in your life and just focus on this one thing.
Take a walk in nature. Nature has a way of inspiring us more than you can imagine.
Go to a quiet place. Silence is golden. With no distractions and noise you should become one with yourself and you will be inspired in no time.
Stop thinking. Often the next idea will come without thinking too much. It might even come while you are sleeping or driving. Our brains are magical and often helps us come up with ideas without us expecting it.
Play your favorite music. It will not only make you focus better it will also stimulate your creativity.
Shut down. If you are stuck and cannot come up with a possible solution then just shut down and start over. Forget about what you have done up to now, and restart the whole process again.
Ask someone to help you. Often we are so close to a solution but we just cannot find the answer. Someone with a fresh perspective might be able to inspire you and even if they don’t have the solution they helped distract you for a while to give you courage to continue.
Create a mind map. Creating a mind map might stimulate your creativity and could help you visualize a solution to any problem.
Take frequent breaks. Nobody can be creative if they are tired. Make sure you get enough sleep and rest. A good night’s sleep can make you feel refreshed and when you wake up you might be inspired.
To become more creative means that you actually have to practice the above mentioned steps. Wishing you were creative is not going to cut it. Get up and do something about your creativity. The world needs more creative people.
