Art Spot with Anne Manera

“What keeps life fascinating is the constant creativity of the soul.” Deepak Chopra

In today’s podcast episode let’s talk about how creativity exists in life’s everyday moments. What if I told your that simply washing dishes by hand could spark your creativity ? Or going for a short 10 minute walk would be a way for you to find inspiration ? Without you realizing it, you are a full of creative ideas and when you stop trying to create, trying to be full of inspiration, and just let your mind wander, you will be amazed at how creative you really are ! When you allow yourself to simply stop and be present in life’s everyday moments or tasks, you will let open yourself up to new creative possibilities.

Opportunities to create art lie in life’s everyday moments. Being still and silent allows one to digest the world around them. I pay attention to what is around me and what is inside me–taking time to reflect, meditate and simply absorb my surroundings. But more importantly, being creative allows me to unplug from this crazy world and escape from all that is a not so happy time. Allow yourself the time, whether it is a minute, an hour or an entire day, to escape to a place inside yourself. This, to me, is what it is to live a creative life.

Action Steps

There are steps you can take in your everyday life to spark your creativity.

Read a new book, go for a walk if you can, watch a TED talk, people watch,

Journal your thoughts, take photos, spend some time alone each day, eat good food, stay away from negative news, limit your social media time, take an online class, stop TRYING to be super creative.

“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it” – Salvador Dali

It’s been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am sure we have all heard this so many times that it begins to have no meaning. Becoming just a cliche for many, rather than taking to heart what it truly means. Especially with any creative endeavor. Let’s face it, we all love praise. Some more than others.

The purpose of making art is to do it for yourself and do it because you enjoy it. If you are involved in any type of creative activity whether it's visual or performing arts, cooking, crafting, etc, it should be something that you enjoy. If you are frustrated by it then it's time to change what you are doing.
So what's the next step?
Take a moment to think about why you started coloring. And think about your abilities rather than your inabilities.

"The creative adult is the child who survived." -- Ursula Leguin

In today’s podcast episode we are talking about how much easier it was to be creative when you were a child. Have you ever wondered why kids are much more creative than adults? Children are blessed with the ability to believe that anything is possible. what is adults we've been shown what is not possible so unfortunately those are possibilities can often times get in the way of our creativity. Easiest thing to do is to think like a child. Sounds pretty simple right but when you think about it a child's imagination is never criticized. And as adults often times we bring up an idea but we sort of with our imagination and we are criticized it doesn't work when we are embarrassed to talk about it.

We don't allow ourselves to have fun. we sometimes even start rules for ourselves I can go do the fun thing after I get all my chores done. Sound familiar?

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”Sylvia Plath

In today’s podcast episode I would like to address the topic of self-doubt and how it can affect your creativity. Self doubt can be defined as the lack of confidence in oneself and one’s abilities.

Everyone experiences this at some point in their lives - for a variety of reasons. And often times, the root cause is only the chatter in our own minds. Self-doubt has the ability to stop you from expressing yourself creatively and preventing from enjoying an activity or new creative endeavor. How many times have you told yourself that you just weren’t good enough to join a particular class? Or to learn a new skill? A skill you know nothing about but yet you have convinced yourself that you will not do well. How do you know this if you have never tried?

How to do overcome self-doubt. A few things you can do is

• Join an in person group and/or class
  
• Join an online group and/or class
  
• Stop looking at other’s work and comparing to yours
  
• Stop beating yourself up over having self-doubt
  
• When you find yourself self-doubting, stop and take a deep breath. Walk away from what you are doing or about to do and do something totally different. Watch TV, go for a walk, sit in silence, cook, clean, do something to get your mind off your negative state.
  

In this episode I would like to talk about how many people use art to heal pain. Many people believe that creative people use their creativity to express what ails them. Often times there are no words for what a person is feeling, emotionally, physically or mentally – so many turn to art in some form to express themselves in some way.

You can learn more about Artist Frida Kahlo at https://www.fridakahlo.org/