The Creative Mind

How we think about where we get abilities can impact using them, even exploring our potential talents well enough to create something worthwhile.

"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent." Sophia Loren

"Too often we lose sight of the fact that vulnerability is the birthplace of joy, belonging, creativity, authenticity, and love.”

The truth is that by expanding possibilities and automating part of the creative process, we can all be more creative and productive. In a virtual world of infinite abundance, only creativity could ever be in short supply.

"The ugly truth is that most creative acts are failures, which is why, as Robert Weisberg points out in his book Creativity, outstanding creative work is tightly linked to prolific output

How important is it to identify yourself as an artist - to others, and especially to yourself? What if you don’t get awards for your creative work?

Stories of starving artists seem to have more currency in literature, and can fuel distorted and limiting ideas about being a creative person.

Creative business consultant Lisa Sonora Beam notes people may “experience a kind of mythic divide” between their creative work and business practicalities.

Good self-care is taking steps daily, even hourly, to stay replenished with the energy and positive attitude needed to be productively creative.

As a child or teenager, we were perhaps more freely creative, but as adults we may face many fears and uncertainties about our creative abilities.

New edition of my Developing Creativity newsletter:

"Roadmap for the Holidays" program ;

"The M.A.P.P. free interview series" (9 exceptional women on motherhood, ambition, passion and purpose) ;

article: "Multi-Talented but Under-Challenged?" ;

book: "StrengthsFinder 2.0" - and more.

By Cynthia Morris, CPCC It would be nice to believe that the life of a creative person is one long, happy adventure. But despite the freedom and satisfaction that can come from working as a creative professional, it’s not all fun.

Developing Creativity newsletter - articles include:
* Cheryl Richardson and Alanis Morissette Self-Care Retreat
* Artists and Addiction
* Peak performance requires stress relief
* Can Tetris or other games enhance your brain?
-- & more

Artists, as well as entrepreneurs and other creative people, often use storyboards, journals, mindmapping and other idea tools for developing creative projects.

Maybe you kept a diary, or still do. Or use a notebook as a helpful tool for personal growth, and to track your thinking and inspiration. In one video here, en*theos CEO Brian Johnson comments, “I love using journals to capture my thoughts.” In another video, Lisa Sonora Beam talks about the power of visual journaling.

A listing of selected books to help develop your creative thinking and business innovation, and enhance your creative life.

"Finding ways to maintain that optimal zone where we are neither under- or over-stimulated allows us to use our minds to respond rather than to react. The greater access you maintain to yourself, the richer and broader your array of creative tools.” Psychologist Cheryl Arutt

- See more quotes, books, articles and sites to improve your emotional balance and enhance your creative life.

Inspiration and resources for creative entrepreneurs

In her Golden Globes acceptance speech, Amy Adams thanked her 3-yr-old daughter Aviana for “Teaching me to accept joy and let go of fear.”

But being a creative mother can be challenging. “I’d be in the middle of a sentence and someone needed to go to mall for new shoes, so the sentence would be lost.” That is a quote by author Amy Bloom.

TalentDevelop Posts, by Douglas Eby: Articles from Talent Development Resources

Some forms of music can aid in writing, and even promote creative thinking. One of its main impacts may be in shifting our emotions.

"As children, fear is a natural part of our lives, but as adults we view fear as a disease. It’s not a disease." - Psychologist Robert Maurer //

“Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.” James Thurber  //

Ben Stiller stars in and directs a movie version of Thurber’s famous story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and comments, “At a certain point, you want to be taking chances. That’s when you’re having the most vital experiences.”

As a child or teenager, we were perhaps more freely creative, but as supposed “grown-ups” we face fears and uncertainties about our talents, or the marketplace value of a particular form of expression, or what our investing in a project means – both for us, and others.

Some forms of creative work may have structures and guidelines to follow, at least during some stages, but at some point the venture is, well, creative. You need to make things up.

There can be many inner threats and challenges to all these aspects of creating.