Where is your muse when you want her to surface? She is right there when you are bored and focusing on trivia. She taps on your shoulder when you turn out the light at bedtime and let your mind run free. Your creativity abounds when you are not paying attention, which is why you cannot find her when you search. However, you can encourage her to grow.
1) Focus Then Release
Your mind forms ideas when you focus on a problem and then let it go. Have you noticed that solutions pop into your head when you are engrossed in a mundane task? The reason ideas enter your awareness when you are not expecting them is that the pressure to produce them has ceased.
When you want your creativity to flow, focus and then release your desire. Carry out a boring activity that does not require much thought. Your brain will produce ideas when you least anticipate their appearance.
2) Daydream
Allow your mind to drift without direction and see where it takes you. Do not try to think of anything specific; just allow one thought to lead to another and one visual image in your mind to merge into the next. Your creative juices will flow when they are not restricted by parameters.
3) Tell A Different Story
Perhaps, you tell yourself that you are not inventive. In fact, you always engage in the act of creation because you shape your reality with your thoughts. However, if you believe that you are artistically challenged your thought will be true.
Start describing yourself as an abundantly creative person. Become aware of the story you tell yourself with your inner voice and of how you talk about yourself to others. Declare that you think of ideas and create what you desire with ease and your imagination will soar.
4) Let Go
When you are tense, which might be the case if you are trying hard to be creative, your muse suffocates. One way to loosen up and let go is to have fun. Dance, sing, tell jokes or read a funny book. Do anything that switches your mood from intense to carefree.
5) Surround Yourself With Inspiration
Design your environment so that it reflects the genre of creative endeavors that you want to emulate. For instance, if you wish to paint a picture, place numerous pictures on your walls that stir your imagination. If you desire to write a novel, ensure that you read profusely. Your thoughts will start to match the vibration of creativity if it surrounds you.
6) Don’t Think, Act
Do not worry about whether you are going to paint a masterpiece, develop a brilliant concept that will change the world or write a best-seller. Just engage in the act of creation without expectation. Sometimes, your muse is blocked, not because you do not think that you can create a single thing, but because you do not think that what you produce will be good enough.
The best way to capture your creativity is to stop chasing your muse. She does not respond favorably to pressure but will appear if you allow her the freedom to exist on her own terms.
