Week 43’s task of 50 Weeks to a Lighter More Loving You is Thou ART.

Fine artist John Paul Caponigro says, “The human being is a creative species.”

Our true essence, in our core, in our heart, we are creative being. We are born creative.

Unfortunately, so many of us grow up thinking we are not creative or artistic and give up all pursuits of any kind of “art.”

Sometimes we think or believe we are not “artistic” unless we have had training, receive money, or get recognition from doing some kind of art.

This not so.  Each one of us is creative.

For a lighter more loving you, nurturing your creative spirit, whether it is through a fine art or day dreaming, is important to feeling whole and happy.  Being creative improves problem solving, stress management, feelings of well-being, risk taking, self-expression, and new ways of thinking.

This week your task is to do something creative or to do something to nurture your creativity.

Here are some ideas on how to boost your creativity:

• As with any of the personal strengths, you can boost creativity simply by paying more attention to it and intending to incorporate more of it into your life.
• Tap into your child-self and look for ways to be more playful, to make your tasks more fun.
• Try changing a habitual pattern. Take a different route to work, for example, and notice what you see; urban meditation.
• Spend time outside. Being in natural settings taps into all five senses, energizes the body, and, most importantly, stimulates the imagination.
• Renew an old hobby. Dig out your old guitar or your scrap booking supplies.
• Start a new hobby. Keep a journal. Record your dreams. Try your hand at writing stories or poems.
• Buy some art supplies and play.
• Expose yourself to more arts. Visit galleries and museums; go to concerts and the theater.
• Free-associate. Try this game: Open the dictionary to a random word and write down everything it makes you think of.
• Write freely. Take 10 minutes to jot down anything and everything that comes to mind without judgment, a technique called ‘free-writing’ or ‘free association’. Then go back over the notes and see which ideas are worth keeping.
• Read biographies of musicians, dancers, artists, scientists, business leaders.
• Listen to music; listening to music stimulates the part of our brain that controls motor actions, emotions, and creativity.
• Exercise the eyes. Moving the eyes back and forth facilitates interaction between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, which may boost creative thinking
• Create a treasure chest. Collect a bunch of inspiring items (photos, quotations, etc.)
• Take random photos.

Cheering You on to a Whole Thou ART Creative Heart,
Barbara