How are you getting along with your Creativity? We’re already hearing of tentative first meetings and surprising discoveries.
For example, Evan’s Creativity is ‘autumn brown…fiery reds, maroon and gold.’ He also says, ‘Arabesque…is the core of my Creativity’s personality. Not completely unhinged, but inherently nuts. Whimsically wonderful but stringently against the rectitude of sensibility. In truth, with no regard for etiquette!’ Way to go Evan! We can’t wait to hear more about your Creativity.
Have you found him/her yet? Don’t worry if you haven’t. It’s still early days. A good method for getting to know your Creativity is finding the space he or she likes to inhabit.
For example, I have a workshop. Would you like to see it? Click here and I’ll give you a quick tour.
Obviously, your Creativity will be a little (or a lot) different. In the same way that your personality is different to my Jessica’s personality, so your Creativity will be different to me.
So, what kind of place do you think your Creativity hangs out in? Is it one place or multiple? Is it a calm place, or a busy place? Is it a tidy place or a cluttered place?
I personally love disorganised clutter. I discover all sorts of unlikely connections between things when they’re all lying around together. I find if everything’s all in it’s own little pigeon hole, then nothing gets to interact with anything else, and everything gets boring.
But perhaps your Creativity needs things to be in order of highest to lowest, or yellow to black, or lightest to heaviest. What feels right to you? Go by gut instinct. This is super important! Rely on how you feel about it. The more sensible sections of your brain will want to get in on the act and start drawing flow charts, assessing risks, measuring things, making lists and generally telling you how silly your feelings are. Don’t listen. Ask them to shut up. Gag them with duct tape. Scoop them up with a front end loader and dump them unceremoniously in a padded cell. Do what ever you have to do until you are able to get to your real feelings about the matter.
Your Creativity’s personality and looks are usually closely linked to the place he or she inhabits. For instance, is he a Jamaican with long dreadlocks and bright shorts, standing on an endless white beach with a kiosk of ideas? Or is he a homeless man with his own rubbish dump, continually finding gems amidst the garbage?
Tristan describes his Creativity as ‘a bit like a gardener. Plants ideas and does a lot of work on them at the start, to make sure they’re well rooted, then he goes off and tends to his other plants, maybe plant a few new ones, and then comes back. However, sometimes a number of the plants mysteriously merge into one super plant. I suppose Creativity must think it’s easier to manage that way.’
If you’re having trouble finding Creativity on his or her own, then try finding the environment Creativity inhabits. Sometimes you’ll bump into him or her while you’re exploring.
At this point I should mention that some people will never quite see their Creativity. Perhaps they’re not visual people. Perhaps their Creativity is too shy. But if you try, you should at least get the feeling that there is a little creative spark within you who you can talk with. And sometimes, that’s all you need.
We’d love to start a little gallery section on our site with pictures or descriptions of your Creativitys. If you’d like e-mail us your description or picture, send it to creativitysworkshopATgmailDOTcom.
In the mean time, please comment and let us know about your Creativity’s surroundings.
December 22, 2009 at 6:37 am
That photo reminds me of Antiqua.
December 22, 2009 at 9:07 am
All those islands have such beautiful beaches. I’ve never managed to visit though. I’m spoilt with too many nice beaches close to home.
Have you been to Antiqua?
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. 🙂 Much appreciated.
December 22, 2009 at 9:13 am
P.S. I believe the photo is from Cuba.
June 20, 2010 at 9:23 am
I wanted to make a comment about an interesting tidbit, lovely really, that is from a book Amber gave me long ago. It just turned up again, as lovely things have a habit of doing every so often, and I wanted to share.
This is Frances Hodgson Burnett’s perspective on the characters’ place in the creative writing process. It seemed to me that it fit Creativity’s Workshop beautifully (sorry it’s such a long link):
http://books.google.com/books?id=7_8uF1mO9icC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=%22a+little+princess%22+%22the+whole+of+the+story%22&source=bl&ots=muJymKimBR&sig=vwhYWj-3Hga45jtb4g6X1EZH9l4&hl=en&ei=42sdTP75G5TlnAevhKTnAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22a%20little%20princess%22%20%22the%20whole%20of%20the%20story%22&f=false
June 20, 2010 at 1:53 pm
That’s a wonderful perspective! I love it! Thanks so much for sharing.