Creativity

Note: The information on this page is all channeled from Seth and is set in Italics.

Creativity is not something that one person has and another person does not have. Creativity does not run out. You don’t necessarily have a lot of creativity when you are young and run out of it when you are old. People are not born with a larger supply of creativity than anyone else.

With that said we will embark upon a discussion of what creativity is through the eyes of those who dwell in the upper reaches, as it were, and our own thoughts and reflections on the matter. Our advice to you would be that you settle back and prepare yourself for a journey into something that is bound to raise a few eyebrows, but more importantly, move a few butts off of the couches you typically sit upon.

As we said before, creativity is not the property of one more so than any other person. Each of you exercises your creativity all day long. Also, all night long. Each of you. Without your creativity there would be no reality. Love makes make the world go around, but creativity makes it interesting.

The problems arise when you begin to compare yourselves one against the other. In a comparison doesn’t somebody usually come up short? Yes. And, so in the comparison while the other guy typically looks good, nine times out of ten, you are going to look bad. Maybe not too bad, but just enough that we all know you will never be famous. Baloney. It’s stinkin thinkin like that we can all do without.

Now, before we talk about ways to exercise your creativity, for we will, we’d like to look at how you could be a happier camper if you weren’t to take it all to heart and compare yourself with others as often as you do. I realize that even as children you are encouraged to meet certain standards and if you don’t you will receive bad grades. But, that was as children and you are adults now. Imagine a course without grades? Yes. That’s what we want now. We’d like to see you thirsty for knowledge. We’d like to see you get curious and wonder about the world around you. We’d like to see you enjoying yourself. Just for today don’t compare yourself to anybody. Admire who you want. Think, “If only I could do that too”. Fine. Those are good thoughts. But, deep six those thoughts that eat away at your self esteem.

Now, everybody can’t be famous. It would be just too overwhelming. But you can know about those things that interest you inside and out. You don’t have to become a know-it-all and bore your family to death. You could just be that person people come to when they want to find out about widgets. Is that famous enough for you? The main point is that you are happy. And, we would also caution anyone who wants to be the world’s expert at something or another. Just get interested in something and enjoy yourself.

Does this thing you are interested in have to be your job? Isn’t your job one of the more important aspects of your life? Well, yes, we would say that the work you do to support yourselves in a monetary fashion is important. It might not be exciting work. You might be a secretary or an assembler of components for car stereos. You might be a day laborer and not have steady work. You might work on commission and be incredibly motivated to make your sales. But, in your society today there are not too many people who have the luxury to make their livings doing the things they’d love to do. It would be great if you liked your job. Typically, if you’re a happy camper you’re going to like your job no matter what you do. But, if you don’t really like your job, for the moment anyway, get over it.

We are suggesting that you not quit your day job just yet. Go to work. Give your paycheck back to the household and turn your attention in what spare time you can find to that which thrills you. Just because you work for someone else does not mean that you cannot bring to that job a certain measure of creativity. Your employer will, more than likely, begin to look at you differently if you exercise creativity in your job and we are definitely not speaking of creative bookkeeping or anything that smacks of illegal activities. Remember, there is truly a Purgatory and our channel can tell you all about it when you get there. What we are speaking of is creativity that makes life easier for you and your co-workers. We are speaking of creativity that increases sales and benefits the company and its customers. Certainly, it goes without saying that the creativity you exercise at work is for the benefit of your company and not for your own personal gain.

And, now, a word on hobbies. Typically, hobbies do not carry the same importance that an activity that requires real talent or passion has. We would say, “Balderdash”. Hobbies can be mighty important. The joy and passion you generate enjoying yourself with your “hobby” will spill over into the rest of your life. Your wife will delight. Your husband admire. Your boss inspired to give you a raise. No matter how much time you don’t think you have to devote to something you love to do we say once you give yourself permission to enjoy yourself you will suddenly find energy to meet all of your obligations and still have energy to spare.

What about workaholics? Ah, well people who have no hobby actually don’t need one. All of their attention is on their work. What they could use, though, is a break every once in awhile. Anyone who spends an inordinate amount of time concentrating deeply on one thing will often get a little bruised of spirit and their creativity might suffer somewhat. This advice applies to anyone who devotes a lot of their time to a hobby. With any task so much energy devoted to the task at hand will result in a shoddy product. At the last moment your hand will slip. At a critical point you will sneeze. You will lay something down, turn around and be unable to find it again. We call this brain freeze. (A slight editorial prerogative was just exercised by our channel when she thought she heard, “brain fart” and decided maybe she needed a break.)

The advice here is simple. Just take breaks. They need not be long. You can look up from your task, take a deep breath of air, stretch your back, shake your arms, walk around a little and then get back into it. You could take a nap. We advocate taking naps. Very refreshing. Thomas Edison was fond of naps and used them to his advantage.

Physical exercise is beneficial to a nice balancing of body humors. Get out for a ten minute walk once a day. That will help. And, if you can’t walk, stride in place while your hair is drying.

Creativity plays a very important part of every minute of your life. Creativity is the thing that comes into play when you’ve done the same task over and over again, basically the same way, for the last 15 years. Creativity is what will allow you to continue to do that same task, but with a twist, putting a spin on the ball so that what was at one time very boring, now becomes fun. People will wonder what your secret is, and all you’ve done is give yourself permission to exercise a little creativity. It just spills over into other areas of your life.

Okay, so there you are. You’ve read this and wonder, “Well, how do I do this?” It’s not like a dance where you take a step forward and another to the side and dip. The first thing is to stop selling yourself short by comparing yourself to others who have accomplished a lot. The next step is to give yourself permission to be creative. The next step is to do it. How?

Picture yourself poised at the edge of a swimming pool. You are ready to dive in. Your arms are over your head and are pointing toward the water. Now, you are on the edge of the pool. In a second you will be in the water. But, right now, right now you need to have somebody blow a whistle so you can dive in. Ah, you need a signal? Fine. Let’s make a signal for you — something to make you move. Count to three and on the count of three you will begin. Just like that? Yes. Just like that.

It’s not as dramatic as being on the side of the pool all dry and the next second in the water all wet. It’s a matter of taking the first step. One step after another, again and again and again. Go to sleep. Get up in the morning. Read something inspiring to start your day. Get dressed and go to work. Come home, fix dinner and for the next 2 hours devote yourself to your hobby. How much should you do? Two hours. That’s all. If you need to do more you’ll dream about it during the night. The next night do some more. In a week’s time, just during the week alone, you will have devoted 10 hours towards your project. That is not small potatoes, folks. It adds up. It’s how you get fat. So, get fat on your creativity.

We have a secret for you too. The more you do something you love the better you’re going to get at it. You’ll be doing the one thing that you love….say, it’s building a ship inside a bottle and two weeks into your new project you suddenly decide it’s time to fix the wobbly leg on the coffee table…that leg that falls off every time somebody vacuums and has been that way for the last 8, count them 8 years. I thought you didn’t have any time? You fix it and still work the 2 hours a night on your ship. Creativity feeds on itself and it spills over into your life.

Now, little boosts for your creative processes. You have an idea, but aren’t really sure how to go about it. Trust that you already are in possession of the answer. Take your problem and with a brilliantly colored crayon write that problem in the middle of a large piece of paper. Draw a circle around it and sit back and wait. In a second a thought connected to the first one will come to you. Write it down. Draw a circle around it and connect it to the first one. Here comes another thought. Write it down…circle it and connect it to either the first one or the second one. You decide whether this third thought is more connected to the original one or to the offshoot. Just keep with the ideas. You could actually pretty much outline a book this way. It’s sometimes easier than creating a traditional outline. Fun, too, because you get to use crayons.

Keep a notebook near you. Keep one beside your bed and one near you at work. This is for ideas as they come to you. Don’t try to remember them. Write them down. Worry is a great distraction for anyone and the less worry you have in your life the happier you can be. If you are worried that you will forget something, just write it down. This will also come in handy if you were to begin writing down the dreams you have.

The red in beets is good for the brain cells. Also, oxygen which is where your aerobic exercise comes in handy. Oxygen is good for the entire organism. Drugs, alcohol and smoking are not good, but we realize that many of you have a problem here and we would speak of it some other time.

There is no magic pill for you to take other than the fact that you have given yourself permission to get creative. All else will flow from that point. Our Blessings