There is an old proverb that says, “A light heart lives long”. What makes a light heart, though? I think it’s made up of a combination of elements, and I believe that creativity is one of the most important. Creativity can bring other things into existence, and I don’t just mean material things - I mean things that help to make up a “light heart”. Creativity can also make up for other elements that might be missing for some reason.

The really great thing about creativity is that we all have it within us – it’s just a case of tapping into it. It’s also all around us – again, it’s just a case of grabbing it and making it what we want it to be. This article focuses more on our inner creativity – we’ll come back to external creativity another day.

The first thing is that we need to have the knowledge that we can do this. Some people, through negative conditioning or unfortunate circumstance, believe that they can’t be creative and that creativity is something that will always be denied them. Think about children – they don’t question it – they are naturally creative, but they grow out of it if they don’t nurture it or if it’s discouraged in them.

Other people think creativity is only for the favored few, or it’s a luxury they can’t afford. But that’s not true – it’s just a case of believing it’s there, waiting to be developed, and, as with so many things, it can be developed through practice. It’s also free…

Creativity is about coming up with alternative ideas, and the more ideas you come up with, the better. Then you might put them in to practice. Or not. It depends what it is. But the initial creativity is what we’re interested in here. One of the most-asked questions of writers and artists is “Where do you get your ideas from?” and many writers and artists have no clear answer because it’s not necessarily a conscious thing for them – probably because they’ve been doing it for long enough that they’ve forgotten how they got the ball rolling in the first place.

The truth is that ideas (and creativity) beget other ideas (and more creativity). So once you’re on a roll there’s nothing to stop you, except maybe yourself. We will find ways of getting the roll started, and bringing creativity in to life in order to have the ability to tackle every aspect of every day. Being creative means being adaptable and enabling a suitable response to the rapidly changing world in which we live. It’s about being excited instead of being afraid. It’s about lightening your heart.

Yours creatively,

Susan