"To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts." - Henry David Thoreau
I hope you're well and that you're finding ways to infuse creativity into your daily life -- ways that feel good to you.
Today, I invite you to dive into the topic of cultivating a creative mindset.
Let's break it down! Shall we?
Cultivate :: to take purposeful action and create the conditions necessary for the growth and development of a desired quality, skill, or mindset. It's a practice that involves commitment, patience, and a nurturing approach for its evolution.
Creative :: the ability and willingness to see beyond the ordinary, finding inspiration and beauty in the world around us. Approaching life with a sense of openness, curiosity, and wonder. A state of being that harnesses imagination and intuition, blended with knowledge and experience. Embracing experimentation and the unknown. Navigating uncertainty with compassion and resilience, and using challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. Unfolding an expression of one's inner world, reflecting their unique perspective.
Mindset :: the pattern of thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions that shape an individual's understanding of themselves, others, and the world. It's the lens through which we interpret and navigate our experiences, influencing our behaviors, emotions, and overall well-being. A mental framework or perspective that informs our reactions, choices, and responses to various situations.
So, we could say cultivating a creative mindset is an ongoing practice of embracing curiosity, imagination, and a willingness to explore new possibilities. It also involves creating an environment that supports and encourages creativity. <-- That part has been super important for me!
Cultivating this mindset needs to feel good. Something we enjoy. Something we're drawn to. It's essential for maintaining long-term motivation and enthusiasm for creative living. I'll offer different methods for cultivating a creative mindset to experiment with in the coming weeks and months, but one I'll share with you now is simply...
Ask yourself the question each morning for the next two weeks: "How could I enjoy today (even more) with a creative mindset?"
Here's how it can help:
Setting an Intention: By starting your day with this question, you set a positive and creative intention for the day ahead. It shifts your focus towards incorporating creativity into your daily experience and reminds you to actively seek opportunities for creative expression.
Enhancing Awareness: This question prompts you to be more mindful and attuned to the present moment. As you go about your day, you'll become more aware of the potential for creativity in your surroundings, activities, and interactions. It invites you to see the world through a creative lens, noticing the beauty, inspiration, and possibilities that exist in your everyday experiences.
Inviting Exploration: Asking yourself how you can enjoy the day even more by being creative encourages you to explore different avenues of creative expression. It opens up space for curiosity, experimentation, trying new things, and stepping outside of your comfort zone. This mindset of exploration fosters growth, learning, and personal development.
Infusing Joy and Passion: The question invites you to tap into your passions and interests, encouraging you to incorporate activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. When you engage in creative pursuits that align with your passions, it naturally boosts your enthusiasm, making the creative process itself enjoyable and rewarding.
Cultivating Flow States: Creativity often leads to a state of flow—an immersive and effortless state of being fully absorbed in an activity. Flow can bring a deep sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. By focusing on how to enjoy your day through creativity, you increase the likelihood of experiencing flow states.
Empowering Ownership: By asking yourself this question, you take ownership of your own creative experiences. You recognize that you have the agency to infuse creativity into your day and make it a priority. This sense of ownership can empower and motivate you to actively seek out and create opportunities for creativity, fueling intrinsic motivation.
The question is an invitation to explore what creativity means to you and how you can integrate it into your daily life in a way that brings you joy and fulfillment. By asking ourselves this question each morning, we can cultivate a mindset that actively seeks and embraces creativity, making it an enjoyable part of our lives. It becomes a conscious and intentional practice that helps you tap into your creative potential, find inspiration in the ordinary, and live an even more vibrant and fulfilling life.
Maybe the question will spark an idea for a new recipe to try, driving a different route than you're used to, taking some photos in a park, creating a magical 5 minutes in your day to do deep breathing, or asking a new acquaintance a question you normally wouldn't.
Your Mini Mission
... if you choose to accept it.
Ask yourself the question "How could I enjoy today (even more) with a creative mindset?" for the next two weeks. Write it on a sticky note and put it near your bed, or set a recurring alarm on your phone that you'll see early in the day.
Journal Prompt
What are some of the rules or guidelines that you've set for yourself when it comes to your creativity? Are they helping you, or are they limiting you? What is one thing you can do to give yourself permission to explore your creative potential more fully?
Before I go, I'd love to hear from you. How did you experience creativity in the last week or so? Please hit reply and let me know! Or if there's anything else you'd like to share, I'm all ears.
With love and creativity,
Angie
Creative Living Roundup
Here are some things (and people) that are bringing me insight, awe, and joy this week:
Chef Babette | The 72 year-old vegan chef who does 8-minute planks | She talks food, fitness, self-love, and reinvention on Rich Roll's podcast
ChatGPT. (How) Are you using it? I've found it helpful for brainstorming visualizations/meditations, emails, recipes and meal planning, personalized gifts, book/essay summaries | 35 Ways Real People Are Using AI Right Now
I recently discovered Tanya Tucker's music and her 50-year career from her documentary, produced by Brandi Carlile | She won her first Grammy at 61 years-old in 2020 for Bring My Flowers Now - I've listened to it about... 174 times in the past few days :)
A Meditation I Recorded
"Creating Space Between Thoughts" - By connecting with even tiny moments of peace, we can cultivate a sense of more calm, clarity, and space for new possibilities. Through guided breathing and a focus on being present in the moment, we'll gently expand the space between our thoughts, as we practice allowing them to come and go without holding power over us. >> listen here.
Words I'm Pondering
"We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of [humans] to elevate their life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts."
- Henry David Thoreau