When I was younger I was rarely proud of my creations. I doubted my skills. I always felt I could do better. But worst of all: I believed that if I didn’t create something amazing, it meant that I wasn’t good enough.
I put all of my value as a person into the art I created, the same way that some adults put all of their identity into their career. At times it made me a really depressed and frustrated!
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Luckily one day I realized the truth. (Doing work in psychology for many years has some benefits…lol).
I learned the following:
A) I am not my art and my art does not define my value as a person.
Even though creating art is a very personal matter, it does not define ALL of you. You are much more than what you create!
B) I was focusing on making it perfect, and in the aim for that, I forgot to enjoy the creative process. I forgot to have fun – I was way too serious!
I needed people to love what I made. I was fishing for approval via my art. How people judged my work controlled how I felt about myself.
Therefore, I was eager to create something perfect, it made me forget that any creative process should be fun, playful and exciting!
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Creativity flourishes when things are done for enjoyment. Joy matter just as much—if not more—than “getting it perfect.” What matters is the pleasure—not perfection.
Today, the final result in my creative process is no longer a concern. If I create a stunning photograph, then great, if not—I simply delete it! No hard feelings – there´s always a new day tomorrow for new experiments 🙂
It’s pretty simple when you think about it, but I used to make it so complicated!
I believe that as a photographer, creativity is essential to success, so how do you maximize your creative output?
Here’s what I know to be true:
1. Creativity Is Not Magic and There’s No Such Thing As The “Creative Type.”
Creativity is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It’s a skill. Anyone can learn to be creative and get better at it—and that includes you! You become creative by “working out” daily. Just like you go to the gym to get fit, you must also set time aside to practice your creativity.
Never take creativity for granted! Treat it with care, it´s your “baby” and it needs a lot of attention and nursing. Your creativity needs rest, fun, support and love.
Just like, if you don´t go to the gym, you won’t get fit. Your creativity will not blossom if you don´t spend time nursing it.
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2. Reconnect With Your Childhood Passions
Instead of taking your art so seriously, focus on making it about passion, desire, fun, joy, experiments, humor and child-like play.
While creativity can be a challenge, the work goes more smoothly if you take it lightly. Humor greases the wheels of creativity. When you’re joking around, you’re more free to consider any possibility, after all, you’re simply having fun. Having fun helps you disarm the inner censor that all too quickly condemns your ideas as stupid or wrong.
Creativity takes root in childhood. For the child, life is a creative adventure. Spend some time recalling how you loved to play as a child, teen and young adult. Write down ways you could bring that spark back into your creative work today. I promise, you’ll score some fun ideas!
What did you want to do as a child? Don’t discount this question because you think it may seem trivial. As children we were honest with simple needs. We did things that made us happy. Why? Because they made us happy! A dream you might have had as a child may still be lingering. Never underestimate the wisdom child within.
3. Expose Your Five Senses to Pleasurable Activities
This is my favorite tip! In my opinion, nothing evokes creativity like nurturing your senses. Make it your goal to expose your senses to pleasure—daily or at least weekly.
Hearing, seeing, smelling, touching and tasting are your five sense. Treat your senses as if they were your children. They need caring—and they need to play and explore new things.
One of the reasons that people love to travel is because when we’re out of our usual element, all of our senses are exploring new experiences and pleasures.
Think about how you can spoil your senses during your everyday life—then make an effort to follow through.
As always, thank you so very much for reading along.
Have a wonderful day
Talk soon,
