HOW TO UNLOCK THE CREATIVITY WITHIN

Inspired by the works of Hilma af Klint

Hilma af Klint The Ten Largest No 9

Are you feeling blocked creatively? Do you feel like there is a hidden creative within? Many clients I see often have confidence or mindset blocks that prevent them from fully expressing themselves and embracing their inner creativity. Maybe these people always knew that they were creative, but their creativity wasn't valued in their home. Maybe they were teased for expressing themselves when they were younger or had an older sibling that always appeared more talented and they so they squashed their own talent. 

If you are constantly saying to yourself, 'Oh I'm not creative', this will affect your confidence when it comes to creativity. But guess what? We are all creative in so many ways that we traditionally don’t recognise as creativity. 

Today I was reminded that we can take the pressure of ourselves a little when it comes to creativity… yes it comes down to us to produce and execute but so often the ideas and concepts themselves come from outside of us. Creativity is co-creation with the universe. I went to see the Hilma af Klint exhibition, The Secret Paintings.

The Swedish artist was a trailblazer for modern art, breaking the ‘accepted’ artistic norms in Europe during the early 1900s. af Klint was part of ‘The Five’, a group of female artists who channelled their creativity from a higher power through their automatic writing and mediumistic drawings. Presenting her spiritual experiences in a visual form, af Klint’s works are an amazing example of the creativity that lies within, and likewise, the creativity that is all around. 

You use creativity every day to solve problems and undertake what you would normally consider a menial task. When you cook dinner, you are actively creating a meal, one ingredient at a time. When you make your bed, you are choosing exactly how to make it look and what colours and textures you like. When you get dressed each day, you are being creative in your choices when choosing what shoe goes with what outfit.

When you make a friend laugh, you are being creative in your choice of words. When you choose a present or write a card, when you create a workout routine or when you burn incense - there is creativity in every choice we make, every task we complete and every thought we have. You can choose to draw creative inspiration from the smaller parts of life - it doesn’t need to be dramatic to have an impact. 

If you want to get even more inspired, there are ways to further strengthen your creativity muscle, such as; 

- Journaling every morning (see The Artists Way)

- Question your inner critic

- Doing something just for fun (e.g a clay class)

- Changing the space around you (even if it’s just adding a new plant or cushion)

- Cooking a new dish out of one of your favourite cookbooks

- Doing some hypnotherapy and changing the story and programming surrounding your creativity 

So take the pressure off, get out of your head and let creativity come to you.

And remember mindset is so important. The things we say to ourselves matter. Our words are spells.

Hilma af Klint The Ten Largest, Group IV, No. 5