You don't have to be a wild artist woman to benefit from a creative mind

Who else sometimes feels like they're caught in a mindless marathon movie? what can you do when work or life in general suddenly seems boring and repetitive? When I find myself wondering where the spark has gone I know it's been too long since I've consciously fed my creative mind. That's when I go into creative recovery.

What is Creative Recovery?

Creative Recovery is a phrase Julia Cameron uses in The Artist's Way to describe a process of rediscovering and experiencing your inherent creativity.

In her book she introduces a 12-week, self-led journey that she describes as a spiritual path to higher creativity. I think the word “higher” is important to note. It's a reminder that even in our most tedious moments the creative mind is present and can offer possibilities for being happier.

While following the program in The Artist's Way your goal is to explore twelve states: safety, identity, power, integrity, possibility, abundance, connection, strength, compassion, self-protection, autonomy, and faith. In addition to reading and thinking about the state of the week you write Morning Pages and take yourself on Artist Dates.  

A Few Lifelong Creativity Exercises 

I wrote morning pages for years and so I have many journals filled with pages and pages of my just-woke-up ramblings. The writing practice clears your head and allows you to start the day open and uncluttered. I highly recommend trying it. It's a totally private process unlike blogging so it's more honest and useful as a purge process. 

Even when I haven't been “officially” in creative recovery I've taken myself on Artist Dates. This is something you do alone. Yes – as in BY YOUR SELF! It's something you add to your calendar in ink. It's time you honor like you would an appointment with someone you love. (It IS an appointment with someone you love.) Being able to spend comfortable solitary time with self is just one of the benefits of a creative mind.

Other benefits of a creativity exercises

Creativity exercises are the fertilizer that help grow and nurture your creative mind. People with creative minds are flexible in their thinking. This mental flexiblilty will enable you to see solutions where others only see barriers. Think of all the situations where seeing solutions could be useful. Really, think about it – or better yet make a list of at least five situations where consciously using creative thinking would have proven useful. Arrange a do-over for any that could be positively life changing.