As you may know, I have spent over 30 years training in a myriad of problem solving, process improvement, creative, coaching and leadership techniques. I have had a career as a group facilitator and leadership coach working with over 10,000 people to help them liberate their potential and shine. Everyone from CEO’s of multi-million pound businesses to Start-up Founders and the homeless.
Having had so many varied experiences and connected with so many human beings from all walks of life, I feel qualified to say what I know to be true. Everyone is creative. Everyone – no exceptions.
Let’s first understand what we mean by creativity. There is a difference between WHAT we create, the thing created, and the act of CREATING itself. You might think that creativity is the domain of the few talented artists, musicians and actors. The creative industries. But no, each of us is born with our own connection to the source of creativity and resourcefulness and we are all creative in our own unique ways.
Here are some things I know to be true about the creative power of the mind:
Just be you. Everyone else is taken
We all live in our own virtual reality headset (called our brain) we are all experiencing our own personal version of reality. We all have different bodies experiencing different things and different thoughts in our heads. We’ve all had different cultural influences and experiences. It’s possible that as a group you can all go to the same party or movie and have a completely different experience. There is ‘something’ happening out there but it only exists for us through our own thinking. Therefore we each live in our own separate realities and we all relate to that reality as the only true reality. So that means we all have our very own unique voice - and that voice is worth hearing.
We are more alike my friends, than we are unalike – Maya Angelou
Everyone wants to give and receive love and feel connected in their own unique way. Everyone also gets scared sometimes and when we get scared we are a bit of a dick (in our own unique way). What’s really going on is insecure thinking. People are doing whatever they are doing to try and get home and feel ok – and those things might look crazy to us – like counting buttons or cutting skin – but actually it makes perfect sense to that person in their world and by the way, you have your very own version of trying to feel ok. When we are doing our own insecure thinking thing – it’s like we have a snowglobe in our head pinging like a Whatsapp Group with more and more cray. Lots of circular rumination, negative thinking and over-analysis and no room for fresh creative thought. The good news is - that left alone, the snowglobe of the mind will settle all on its own and reach that natural calm, clear state of peace, at home and ok-ness – and that is where new ideas purpose built for us will pop in with no effort at all because….
We can trust that we all have access to the same unique creative force
We are all resilient and we are all equally connected to the same universal source of pure creative insight. The untapped potential of the Mind – the place where ideas come from - we all ARE it and have access to it.
We have brains but they are not who we are, we have our thoughts & feelings but they are not who we are, we have bodies but they are not who we are. We are energy beings alive with the creative force of life. The source of creative potential. The source of everything. Formless energy from which all things of form are created.
A member of the audience at the launch of our series spoke movingly at the end how she had had a huge insight that it was ok for her to be her - different was ok. Being true to herself was ok. She said everyone should know this - it would change the world. She’s right - they should. It would.
When we truly get that we are already the sun and not the temporary thought created clouds; we shine. You cannot become creative – you already are.
Elizabeth Lovius has just finished co-hosting with Art Studio Acrylicize - the The Creative Power of the Mind Series. Each event featured a selection of creative thinkers from artists, writers and musicians, to experts in creativity and those who make a living selling creative ideas. Elizabeth hosted each event and introducing some fresh ideas about the power of our minds, after which Elizabeth interviewed our guests and join the dots that will help us all unlock insight into the source of our creative potential.
If you’d like to hire Elizabeth to do the same for you and unlock your leadership wisdom and creative capability - get in touch!