People often ask me for the secret to being more creative, whether it’s for their life or in business. Unfortunately, there’s no one magic formula for creativity that’s going to work for everyone. However, there is a key we can use to filter out which creativity techniques are going to bring us each success.
In early April 2015, I went on a Play Adventure where each day for 30 days I ‘coloured in’ a mandala colouring page (that I had previously created).
Here are all thirty designs that I created out of that one mandala colouring page. I even surprised myself by how many different and unique results I could create out of such a seemingly simple outline.
This Play Adventure was rewarding in so many ways. I introduced more play and fun into my day. I got to express myself creatively. I learnt more about the creative process and what worked for me. It also got me thinking about creative inspiration, taking risks and how ideas can flow. I learnt so much! I captured my learning in the following blogs each week:
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Going on a mandala Play Adventure was rewarding in so many ways. I got to introduce more play and fun into my day. I got to express myself creatively. I learnt more about the creative process and what worked for me. But the biggest takeaway was learning about the importance of developing a creative habit or practice: doing something creative on a regular basis and making it a normal part of my everyday life.
In the first week of my mandala Play Adventure, I wrote about the practical tips that helped me make time to create my mandalas each day. In this blog, I want to share the secret behind making a creative habit.
The final week of the mandala Play Adventure!
In the last 9 days of the Play Adventure I started to wonder if I would run out of good ideas. I was worried that I mightn’t be able to produce interesting and unique designs. So it got me thinking about the part that inspiration plays in creating new ideas.
We commonly view inspiration as that light bulb ‘aha’ moment where in a moment of clarity we come up with the solution out of the blue. But that’s not totally true. Our ideas are never formed in isolation to anything else (although it may often seem like that).
Our brains are pattern-seeking machines, looking to make sense of any new information we receive through our experience and senses, by forming connections and associations with what we already know. Continue reading
My previous blog about play and experimentation was inspired by an “I wonder…?” question of my own. Recently, I discovered my first mandala hidden amongst my old high school graphic folder. I was curious to see what it could look like with different colouring. So I created my own colouring page and tried out a different colour combination, and then another. Without too much trouble or planning I had stumbled onto finding something to play with.
The other day I started wondering about what the mandala outline would look like in orange and green, which subsequently got me wondering about how many different ways I could ‘colour in’ the colouring page. This train of thought then lead me to wonder if I could colour in the same mandala page every day for a week. In doing so, I reasoned that it would be a great test of my creativity and inventiveness, while also giving me plenty of discussion and blog fodder by exposing me to common creativity issues, like making mistakes, persistence and being open and comfortable with the unknown.
But then, a week didn’t seem quite daring enough. Would it really push my limits? So what about 3 weeks? Hmmm… What about 30 days? A 30 day challenge? But the term ‘challenge’ didn’t seem to convey the right spirit. I really liked the idea of playing around and seeing this as a fun exploration, but I really had no idea where this exercise would take me. And then it dawned on me – I’d call it a ‘play adventure’!
So starting Monday 6 April, I have embarked on a play adventure where I will ‘colour in’ my Mandala Colouring Page each day for 30 days (Just in time for my Exploring Mandalas class that starts on Wednesday 6 May 🙂 ).To make sure that I stay accountable and increase my likelihood of delivering on what I propose, I’m making this promise publicly on my blog with the intention of posting my daily efforts on my Inner Creative Facebook page. You can see my first day’s effort below.
Who knows where a little wondering and play will take me? Continue reading