I’m sure you are all aware that my book is now out. I actually have a hard copy or two in my hand and I’m aware it is winging its way to many of you as I keep getting “It’s arrived!” messages. So, once again, thank you for sharing in my excitement and achievement and I am really looking forward to being able to share a glass of fizz with you all, and of course sign some books at my book launch on May 18th – see you there 🙂
So I know how many to cater for (I’ll be offering drinks and nibbles to tempt you along as well), please could you ‘buy’ a free ticket on Eventbrite?
Anyway, I am digressing slightly, I wanted to write this week about creativity, and how it is not some mysterious gift bestowed on to the chosen few, but something that we all have, it is who we are. An awful lot of people have recently said to me how they felt they would like to write a book……..but, they are not good enough, it’s not their skill set, it’s not who they are, they wouldn’t know how to start, they are not creative, and so the list goes on.
Wow, I thought, that is the easiest way to block your creativity.
If we start to label what we perceive as our weaknesses, then yes, we won’t ever do/be the person we think we are not. Labels that we give ourselves, that others give us, that society gives us, can truly keep us stuck, they keep us from not even discovering the genius that is US.
If we take on these labels (and we do this such a lot), then how can creativity flow through us as it’s meant to? We are blocking it before it even has a chance to get started. The one I hear the most is “I am not good enough” – really? Is that true? Are you really not good enough to write a book, paint a picture, manage people, pass an exam, play a musical instrument, speak a foreign language…….are you really not good enough to do that?
Could it be that you have just not given it enough time and attention?
You see, all of us, each and every one of us, has to give something we want to do time and attention. We would all love to think there is some magical shortcut, some way of waking up and just being an amazing artist, a phenomenal business person, a speaker of 5 languages, but that is not going to happen. No matter where are gifts and talents lie, we need to practise, we need to give that area time and attention.
When we give something time and attention, our creativity is allowed to shine through. It radiates out of us for all to see and feel. Whether it is giving time and attention to your work, your health, your money, your relationships, hobbies, YOU. Whenever we do that, creativity flows.
So, let’s lose those labels that are holding us back and instead put our focus on what we want and notice how, with a bit of time and attention, everything changes.