In her book Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplation, Oman Shannon quotes the 20th-century Catholic priest Henri Nouwen, who said, “Through the spiritual life we gradually move from the house of fear to the house of love.”

Oman Shannon believes the same can be said about the creative life. Through creating, she writes, “we can enter the stillness that characterizes prayer and the ‘house of love.’ We can open ourselves and experience spaciousness.”

In Crafting Calm, Oman Shannon shares a variety of creative activities, stories and resources that help readers relax, comfort ourselves, get clarity and connect with others. Ultimately, connecting to our creativity can help us connect to our spirituality. In other words, crafting can become a spiritual practice.

Here are three exercises from her book to bring you calm and comfort and help you connect to your spirituality.

Prayer Garden

“Gardening is a wonderful practice for bringing one back to the present moment,” Oman Shannon writes. She suggests creating a prayer garden with plants that are meaningful to you.

If you follow a specific religion, you might pick the plants that are mentioned in your favorite passages of your holy book. For instance, the Old and New Testaments include lilies, papyrus and olive. Once you choose your plants, you can create labels that include those passages.

When creating your garden, Oman Shannon suggests pondering these additional questions: “What do particular scents – lavender, rose, peppermint – remind me of? What fragrances, or scents, do I need to surround myself with right now? What would calm me and why? What in my life feels sweet right now? Spicy? Energizing? Calming?”

According to Oman Shannon, whatever approach or shape your garden takes, there are important lessons to be learned. “Whether we create a simple prayer garden, consciously choose outdoor plants that remind us of the ancient wisdom in the Scriptures, or work with herbs in a windowsill, we will be rewarded with nourishment from nature and the lessons nature can teach us.”

Portable Shrine

A portable shrine can serve as a comforting tool, which soothes your mind and heart, Oman Shannon writes. You might not know it but you’re probably carrying around a portable shrine right now. Oman Shannon notes that a shrine could be anything from “a sacred symbol on a keychain” to “a collection of photographs of your beloveds on an iPhone.”

Cultures all over the world use shrines, and they do so in unique ways. In Central and South American countries, people use tiny matchboxes. Oman Shannon bought one with a “worry doll,” a clay angel pendant and a red seed. On the matchbox, it says, “There are moments in which you need a peaceful vibe, a touch of good luck, and someone to tell your worries to. Use this emergency kit to balance those tough moments! An angel for peaceful thoughts, a Lucky Bean and a Worry Doll.”

When creating your own portable shrine, Oman Shannon suggests considering what brings you the most comfort and what would symbolize that best.

Affirmation Blanket

All of us, Oman Shannon writes, have some sort of “blankie” that brings us comfort, whether it’s a sweatshirt or specific throw. Years ago, she bought a blanket for her young daughter that includes phrases such as “I am filled with unlimited possibilities,” “I am a true miracle” and “I am a bright light in the world.”

Her daughter not only sees these words (which serve as an important reminder), but she also feels them, “as they are in every way wrapped around her.”

Oman Shannon believes that our need for these words and blankets doesn’t dissipate as we get older. “…[I]f anything, we perhaps need them more as we navigate a world that doesn’t stop to communicate what a bright light we are in it.”

Depending on your expertise, you can create an affirmation quilt or embroider your affirmations into a pillowcase or other lightweight fabric. Or you can use fabric paint or pens on a fleece blanket.

When considering what words to pick, Oman Shannon suggests asking these questions: “What words will serve as your strength, your shield, at this time in your life? What words comfort you; what words do you need to wrap yourself up in right now – literally?”

Creativity offers a bounty of benefits. By using our hands to craft meaningful objects and environments, we can soothe ourselves and cultivate a spiritual practice.

Neuroaesthetics is the relatively recent study of questions such as “Why do we like the things we like?” and “Why do some people find one thing pleasing while others find it appalling?” It has focused on issues such as creativity, visual and motor processing in visual artists and the varying factors involved in creative domains.

Many of these studies have examined music and the neural activity that occurs when we listen to and evaluate what we hear.

Salimpoor and Zatorre (2013) reviewed a number of research studies examining the effects of music on brain activity; in particular activity that relates to the feeling of pleasure. The evidence was clear: not only does music boost our sense of pleasure but there is also a dopamine activity in anticipation to the music that “touches us.”

But that’s where the tricky part lies: this effect is noteworthy only when it is music that we choose, otherwise it does not apply. When the experimenter chose music he or she found to be emotion-inducing, the participants did not experience the desired feeling or the “chills” effect.

Then, the question remains: Why do people get emotional with some songs but not with others? The answer is not clear.

Cultural background, previously reinforced neural activity, subjective interpretations, exposure to certain sequences of sound and many more variables come into play. The notion of subjectivity in evaluating art is something that still requires a lot of exploration.

However, despite the uncertainty regarding why the pleasurable sensation of music is not an absolute and objective process, there is an important point we ought to highlight. The clear message that we can hold onto is that music arouses rewarding emotions, similar to those involved in addictive behaviors that get reinforced over time.

This information, though intuitive to some degree, may be more helpful when discussing the topic of coping skills for symptoms of depression, “emotional numbness” and recovery from chemical dependency.

One of the goals in developing a treatment plan for depressive disorders and substance abuse is to come up with a set of coping skills that can be easily accessed when feeling “as if nothing brings feelings of joy.” Chemically dependent individuals often report that the feeling of numbness and anhedonia can be quickly escaped by using drugs or other sources of immediate gratification.

Of course, the problem is that along with the sense of pleasure comes other unwanted consequences. This is where the findings from these neuroaesthetic studies come into play: When contemplating ways to respond to a decreased sense of pleasure, knowledge about how music can make us feel good comes in handy. Turning to this risk-free way of experiencing pleasure can be incorporated in treatment methodologies for conditions associated with decreased sense of emotional rewards.

Having said that, we have to be careful not to imply that the strong neurological and physical reaction to substances and other addictive behaviors can be reduced and compared to the effect of listening to a David Bowie or Shakira song. However, knowing that music is a highly rewarding experience is a useful reminder when discussing ways to replace destructive habits, or when developing a set of tools that help manage feelings of depression.

Reference

Salimpoor, V.N.; Zatorre, R.J. (2013). Neural interactions that give rise to musical pleasure. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 7, 62-75. doi:10.1037/a0031819

Begin to think about some new channels of growth for yourself, as the time of year for sprouts and buds and new green shoots has begun here in the northern hemisphere.

Seedlings and fresh growth are just busting out now, reaching for the sun’s light and warmth. The approach we take to our challenges, to what has been negatively buried or merely incubating, should be the same. Especially in this time of tremendous new growth, it is good to reflect on our own striving for warmth, insight, nourishment and potential to expand.

So what kinds of questions could you ask yourself to help nurture this growth?

Some questions to think on as your fingers work in soil or you tread paths in spring woods:

• Anything keeping you down, not allowing you to grasp for new means of expanding your life professionally, personally, in relationship?
• Just what are you experiencing that is keeping you from peace and wholeness?
• How did you previously move beyond past limitations, and how have past problems been a force for change in your life?

Upon our reflection, while the earth is engaged in upheaval, the past insight we have gained over challenges and transitions will allow for our own enrichment. And some of the best revelations happen when we allow ourselves not to think directly on problems but instead immerse in other activity. New means of understanding ourselves, our lives, and our world surely will sprout as well. In fact, we as humans are called to grasp for more, reaching ever beyond our boundaries.

Explore a different path in the woods. Take one you are not accustomed to and which evokes a little anxiety, for whatever reason. Go to a new coffee shop and challenge yourself to talk to someone you do not know (at an appropriate time).

Take a course, perhaps one of the novel MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) really coming into fruition now. They are free and offered both by the most prestigious universities or more casual ones. You’d have no excuse of inconvenience or cost as these cater truly to the individual spirit clamoring for knowledge.

What you cultivate literally will lift you up and out into an evolving, perhaps entirely new, way of being.
Channels of growth occur after seeds are planted in anticipation. Not all seeds flower. Some become different looking (or tasting) than they were supposed to. Great surprises happen.

Spring is a great time to ready yourself for what is about to flower. We are not meant to stagnate (though so many of us do, continually or periodically). Think of your own growth and just what channels that might take.

What sort of flower might you grow into?

– Bosses who seem clueless to your job requirements; colleagues who can’t relate to you (or vice versa); the stress of deadlines and dissatisfaction of being in a job you are not even sure you belong in.

- Family members who throw plans into disarray, disregard you and have you questioning your commitment (as well as your sanity). Perhaps adult siblings who ask for money or come to you for advice, only for you to soon find yourself involved in maddening family triangles, or aunts and uncles who pull you into long-entrenched but silly feuds.

- Then of course there are friends who you would like to shake to knock some sense or self-reflection into.

Get the picture?

How do you cope with the trials and tribulations of being human and having to live and work among others? Laugh it off? (That’s a good element, actually.)

Acceptance, compromise, courage when really required — these are all noble and important and at the far other end of the spectrum from laughter.

But the balm that beats all, for the problems that really plague us interpersonally and professionally, is self-development. Nothing sends challenges packing quicker than a little introspection and self involvement. (No, not narcissistic self involvement.)

All the above-mentioned challenges and more can temporarily vanish, periodically dissipate and just plain lose their grip on what you see as as your life and identity with some sense of self worth. Simply finding ourselves behind the mess that often is the outer world — our chaotic office space, our cluttered family room, our ugly political arenas — can make all that other stuff take the side or back seat that it really should be occupying.

If your life really is a big mess due to situations beyond your control, then you can create an internal space that can stimulate you, be your harbor and even guide your larger path professionally.

What calms you? Woodworking, walks in the woods, gardening, hanging with your dog or cat, playing music, painting, delving into family history, learning another language, exploring new sites? Figure out what is your balm. You’ll probably find your self in the process, and be on the way toward alleviating the messes of life and much more.

What fascinates and passionately motivates you? Maybe it’s one of those items mentioned above as calming agents. Or maybe it’s tinkering with mechanical systems, live theater, jogging, studying the stars, writing poetry, working with youth, coming up with new theories for work challenges, organizing spaces, coordinating people and projects.

What makes you tick is what takes you away from troubles. Go toward it. You will be going toward a larger sense of your life and self.

You may already know what grounds you and what energizes you but apply them far too infrequently in your life. Increase it, if even in small increments.

Surprise may come. Did we forget about all that described dysfunction and trouble? No, it is still there, likely. But you have assigned its place in the larger sense of who you are. By going toward calm and captivating experiences, you’ll be shocked to discover previous personal pain alleviated in the moment, stings of rejection at work or indecision on home matters lessened, the itch quieted of desiring something more but not knowing what in your career. By this new “escape” from the mess, you just may find solutions to those larger matters at play in your life, as well — all by reflecting and acting on your self.

But having less “discretionary time” as a parent can become just another excuse stopping you from creating, said Miranda Hersey, a creativity coach, host of the blog Studio Mothers and author of The Creative Mother’s Guide: Six Practices for the Early Years.

Hersey knows a lot about having little time. She has five kids, ages 5 to 22.

Yet, creativity has always been part of her life. For Hersey, “a creative life is full of passion, self-expression, intuition, observation, discovery, asking questions, learning, and making connections, with other people and the world around us.”

Writer and artist Suzi Banks Baum called creativity her “lifeline.” She’s been journaling daily since she was 14. “I wrote the day I gave birth and the day after.”

When she moved from New York City to a small community in upstate New York, she started knitting. “I felt really lonely and was verging on depression. I needed to do something with my hands.” She also joined a knitting circle and returned to Al-Anon meetings. “I began to see myself as an individual who had needs.”

When you nourish your needs, you also become a better parent. According to Hersey, “When you’re regularly creative … you’re happier, more centered, better able to deal with the inevitable stresses of life. When you follow your creative bliss, you’re also modeling something important for your children: doing what you love.”

Below, Hersey and Baum shared nine ideas for living a creative life when you have kids.

1. Do what you love.

Many people think they have to change their lifestyle to be creative, said Baum, also author of An Anthology of Babes: 36 Women Give Motherhood a Voice. But you can simply “remember or find something that you love and do it.” Hersey agreed. “We can be creative at any opportunity—not just when we’re writing or painting or dancing.” For her, “being creative is synonymous with being in love with life.”

2. Take small steps.

When your kids are younger, you may only have a few moments to yourself. During the first two years of motherhood, Baum carried a notebook in her diaper bag. She’d journal, doodle and sketch early in the morning or in the park while her kids were asleep in their strollers. She’d capture everything from scenes of her city to palm trees when she was on vacation.

She also carried a small book of poetry. “Those ‘reading snacks’ kept my mind fed with stimulating ideas and language, which are areas that in the early mothering years can feel very limited.”

Those few minutes with her books also helped Baum soothe her anxiety and worries. “It’d bring things down from a full boil to a simmer.”

Interestingly, during these first few months of infancy, many moms are flooded with ideas, Hersey said. She suggested capturing those ideas by scribbling on a piece of paper or an index card at night.

When your kids get older, there’s usually more time to create. But “you may find yourself stuck between having a tantalizing snippet of time to do your work [and] having to stop on a moment’s notice and not feeling like you can have the time that you really want, at least not on your terms,” Hersey said.

She suggested remembering that some time — like 15 minutes — is better than no time. “Drop by drop, you can still fill the bucket.”

3. Consider a class.

When Baum’s kids started school, she took a mixed media collage class. “That one class changed a lot for me.” She loved learning the material and being in a “community of other mothers doing a creative task.”

The class also helped Baum shift her self-image. “I joined a community of artists and that allowed me to see myself differently as an individual. I had never identified myself as an artist until I took that class and realized that I belonged there.” Today, she collaborates with her former instructor – now a close friend – on workshops and exhibits.

She experienced a similar shift when she took a monthly writing workshop. She started seeing herself as a writer and was inspired to help other mothers tell their stories.

4. Find a sitter.

Sometimes you might want to leave your house to focus on your creativity. If so, Hersey suggested hiring a babysitter or swapping child care with a friend.

5. Be creative with your kids.

“Let yourself do what you love while you’re with your family,” Baum said. For her, cooking, knitting, gardening and attending museums are all important creative acts. So when her kids played in the yard, she gardened. When they went to coffee shops, she took out her notebook and sketched. She also knitted her kids’ clothes and hats. When they travel, they go to museums. “My kids love this. It makes for some of the most interesting times with our family.”

This also models to your kids the importance of taking care of yourself and nourishing creativity, she added. This way practicing one’s creativity “is not seen as something you do at a certain time with a certain outfit on.”

6. Think of yourself as “in training.”

Fatigue is a big challenge for creativity, Hersey said. “Whether you’re at home full-time, navigating a part-time job, working full-time out of the house, or some unique combination, most of us are exhausted by the time the day’s work is done and the last dish is washed.”

That’s why Hersey recommended thinking of yourself as “in training for your life.” That training can include eating foods that boost your energy, exercising, sleeping well and engaging in other healthy practices, such as meditation, she said. “Taking care of your well-being will increase your energy level and with it, your creative bandwidth.”

7. Get up earlier.

Before your kids wake up is a great time to create. Even if you’re not a morning person, you can try getting up 30 minutes earlier, Hersey said. “What would it take for you to make that work? What are you willing to give up for a regular creative practice? Chances are, you can figure something out that doesn’t involve sacrifice for your kids.”

8. Find people on a similar path.

Baum has found a supportive community of creative mothers both in person and online. These women have helped her see her own creativity and work through various challenges.

9. Focus on solutions.

When it comes to creativity, it’s easy to get stuck in the “if-onlys.” If only my kids were in school. If only I had a full hour each day. If only I could get up earlier. You can always find reasons why you can’t create, Hersey said.

She suggested focusing less on what you can’t do, and more on what you can. “The truth is that life is hard – and it will only be harder, the more that we focus on how hard it is. Let’s stop saying ‘I can’t’ and ‘This won’t work’ and start figuring out how to do what it is that we say we want to do.”

Creative Inspiration

Hersey recommended the following books on creativity and writing: Writer Mama by Christina Katz; Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues; and Use Your Words by Kate Hopper.

These are her other favorites on creativity: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp; The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori; and The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander.

She also suggested everything written by these authors: Eric Maisel, Danny Gregory, Keri Smith, Patti Digh, Jennifer Louden, Steven Pressfield, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Julia Cameron and Natalie Goldberg.

Therefore, the use of art and crafts in psychiatric settings has played a significant role in OT from the beginning. Furthermore, a core idea in the development of OT is that “occupation, or doing with the hands, can be seen as an integral part of experiencing a meaningful life” (Harris, 2008, p. 133).

Crafts have many potential therapeutic applications: motor control, sensory and perceptual stimulation, cognitive challenges, and enhanced self-esteem and sense of efficacy (Drake, 1999; Harris, 2008).

Crafts, too, are also often used to assess cognitive functioning: “Crafts were selected because they can be standardized to present new information that is meaningful to the disabled most of the time” (Allen, Reyner, Earhart, 2008 p. 3).

However, in recent OT literature the term “craft” appears to have acquired less worthy connotations. In addition, the emergence of art therapy as a psychoanalytic tool, as well as the use of arts and crafts in recreational therapy, questions the role of the arts in current OT practice with psychiatric patients.

In a study assessing the perspective of inpatient psychiatric clients on occupational therapy, it was found that arts and crafts were the most popular of sixteen activity groups offered. However, only a third of the participants in the arts and crafts group indicated that they found the activity to be helpful and beneficial (Lim, Morris, & Craik, 2007).

An earlier study revealed only a slightly higher than neutral rating of craft groups among psychiatric patients randomly assigned to various activities (Kremer, Nelson, & Duncombe, 1984).

In the course of my investigation of the use of art in occupational therapy in inpatient psychiatric settings, a recurring complaint in several articles was the lack of research on both subtopics: the current role of arts and crafts in OT, and the current role of OT with psychiatric patients.

Although the studies quoted offer only moderate support to the hypothesis that arts and crafts are beneficial to psychiatric patients, they are only two studies. Furthermore, rather than refute the use of arts and crafts altogether, they reinforce the doctrine common to occupational therapy that any treatment must be specifically tailored to fit the interests and needs of the client.

References

Allen, C. K., Reyner, A. & Earhart, C. A. (ed) (2008). How to Start Using the Allen Diagnostic Module: A Guide to Introducing Allen’s Theories Into Your Practice (9th ed.). Colchester, CT: S&S Worldwide.

Drake, M. (1999). Crafts in Therapy and Rehabilitation (2nd ed.). Thorofare, NJ: Slack Incorporated.

Harris, E. (2008). The meanings of craft to an occupational therapist. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (55), 133-142.

Hussey, S. M., Sabonis-Chafee, B., & O’Brien, J. C. (2007). Introduction to Occupational Therapy (3rd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

Kremer, E. R. H., Nelson, D. L., & Duncombe, L. W. (1984). Effects of selected activities on affective meaning in psychiatric patients. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 38(8), 522-528.

Lim, K. H., Morris, J., & Craik, C. (2007). Inpatients’ perspectives of occupational therapy in acute mental health. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (54), 22–32.

But creativity, while magical in many ways, is concrete practice. It’s a garden that needs nourishing, planting and plucking. It’s the muse that sits at her desk at 9 a.m.

So how do we cultivate creativity? What does it really look like? We asked several creativity coaches and artists to share what they’ve learned about creativity throughout the years.

1. Creativity is about showing up.

All of the individuals interviewed stressed the importance of showing up and doing the work. “I think the thing I want readers to know about the creative process is that it isn’t some mystical fairy dust and twinkly lights that only happens to special people if all the stars are aligned. It’s work,” said artist Jolie Guillebeau, who knows this lesson all too well: For three years now, she’s been creating a new painting every day.

Miranda Hersey, a writer and editor, creativity coach, and host of the blog Studio Mothers, echoed Guillebeau’s words. “I thought that creativity had a lot more to do with talent and inspiration than anything else. Through life experience, voracious reading, and my training as a creativity coach, I’ve learned that the most important thing is to show up and do the work.”

“Sometimes you get inspired after you show up and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you create beautiful work and sometimes you don’t,” said artist and photographer Andrea Scher. Years ago she also believed that you had to wait for inspiration to strike to start creating.

Scher shows up by having many different practices at her disposal. In addition to her main mediums, she carves out time for walking and daydreaming. “I have to nourish myself in other ways to show up to my craft.”

2. Creativity is about getting curious.

“I think the doorway to creativity is curiosity,” said Scher, also a life coach and e-course creator. “Practicing curiosity is a wonderful way to spark your creativity.” She practices curiosity with photo walks. Her goal isn’t to take amazing photos. Instead, her intention is to answer this question: “What is beautiful or interesting that I haven’t noticed before?” She regularly discovers new details, such as how the inside of a dandelion resembles a pincushion. Taking a photo walk, she said, helps you discover “tiny worlds you never knew existed.”

3. Creativity is limitless.

When Guillebeau started her painting project, she worried that she’d run out of ideas. Scher also faced similar fears. “You think it’s the last good idea you’ll ever have, or the last great article you’ll ever write.” But she realized that “there are always plenty of ideas and possibilities.”

In fact, sometimes the problem is too many ideas. When that happens, Scher asks herself: “What sounds like the most fun, easy and delightful thing to do?”

For instance, 13 years ago, Scher was a painter trying to sell her work. “I found the hustle very draining and exhausting.” At the same time, she started making jewelry on the side. Scher found it fun and freeing. “It occurred to me that [jewelry-making] was the path I needed to follow and let go of painting as my profession for a while. I had that jewelry business for more than 10 years.”

4. Focus on the process, not the product.

“I used to think that the ultimate outcome was the most important element in a creative work,” Hersey said. She’s learned that it’s more important to nurture the process of creativity. When you’re steeped in the process, the outcome will take care of itself, she said.

According to Hersey, “Forget about finding an agent or deciding whether or not to self-publish or how to get your paintings into a good gallery. By focusing too much on outcome, the process gets stifled and the work suffers. Don’t worry about your Pulitzer; just do the work.”

5. Being creative does not mean being skilled.

“I used to think that being creative meant getting really skilled at something —watercoloring, for example — and then being able to execute beautiful paintings all the time,” said Carla Sonheim, an illustrator, workshop instructor and author of the new book The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone.

Today, she views creativity as “the process of solving problems.” For Sonheim it’s more interesting and fun to try new techniques and take risks. Inevitably, this means she makes more mistakes. But it also means she’s constantly learning. “Skill, then, is more of a by-product of practicing creativity, rather than a prerequisite to it.”

6. Forget perfection, and find the “magic threshold.”

Guillebeau used to spend 30 to 60 hours perfecting one painting. So when she started her painting-a-day project, she was terrified that her work would suffer. To combat her fears, she adapted a story from Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland.

In that book they tell the story of a pottery class where half the students are graded on the quantity of the pieces they make– no matter what the quality, at the end of the semester all of their work would be placed on a scale and if the work weighed more than a certain number of pounds they’d receive an A. The other half of the class would only be graded on one single piece — they didn’t have to create anything else that semester. Of course, the first half not only created more, but the work they made was better than the half who spent dozens of hours perfecting the one single work. I decided this applied to my own work as well.

Today, she still creates the best painting she can. But instead of perfection, she strives for a “magic threshold where I love it, and I’m happy…[A]t a certain point I have to let it go and hope that the quantity of my work will also improve the quality.”

7. Creativity is full of surprises.

“You never know when you start on a creative journey exactly where you will end up,” said Gail McMeekin, LICSW, a coach to creative women entrepreneurs and professionals and author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. For instance, an artist in McMeekin’s coaching group wanted to have her work in a prestigious gallery. She then discovered that she’d love to have her own studio and teach and mentor other artists. “She had no idea that her vision would expand so dramatically.”

8. Creativity is full of ups and downs.

“I used to think the creative process should be a 100 percent positive experience,” Sonheim said. Now, she likens creativity to life. There are highs and lows. “Like life, mistakes or unhappy accidents can result in frustration and pain, but most of the time they also provide an opportunity to fix – or hide, obscure, or work with, or learn from – something which can make the end product if not better, at least richer and more human.”

9. Everyone is creative.

“Too many people, women, especially, do not identify themselves as creative if they are not in the arts,” McMeekin said. But it takes creativity to solve a problem, invent a product or do a marketing campaign. It takes creativity to negotiate a contract for a new home or calm a toddler with an interesting object or game.

“We need to own our creativity and cultivate it, regardless of what profession we are in.” In her creativity books McMeekin has interviewed everyone from an astronaut to a doctor to a developer. “Creativity is everywhere and we all have the software, even if it is a bit rusty.”

This month I’m pleased to present my interview with Mara Glatzel, MSW, a life coach and the creator of the powerful Body Loving Homework E-Course. I’ve been a huge fan of Glatzel’s work for several years now. (We’ve even collaborated on this project.)

She has an empowering message and a beautiful way with words. (Just check out her blog.) Glatzel works with women to help them cultivate healthy, respectful relationships with themselves and lead meaningful, more fulfilling lives.

Coaching, writing and developing e-courses require a person to connect to their creativity on a daily basis. It requires expanding your imagination, solving problems, discovering and distilling your own philosophies and finding interesting, valuable ways to help others. Below Glatzel shares how she does it, along with her tips on accessing our own creativity.

1. Do you incorporate creativity-boosting activities into your daily routine? If so, what activities do you do?

Being able to incorporate creativity into everyday life has been fairly recent for me. I’ve always been a writer and occasionally dabbler in multi-media art, but for much of my life it’s been sort of all or nothing.

Lately, I’ve been working on making time (and mental space) for including small and frequent acts of creativity – taking beautiful photos, making small sculptures in nature, or writing lines of poetry in my head while I wash the dishes.

I’ve been practicing giving myself permission to notice the beauty throughout my day, and allowing that beauty to inspire me to create something of my own.

2. What are your inspirations for your work?

I am inspired by what makes people do the things that they do. I like to create between the lines of human emotion, examining the undercurrent that inspires daily action. I am inspired by my clients, my sisters, and people that I overhear in public.

I like art that makes me feel the full breadth of my emotional range – laughing and crying and then laughing through my tears. Generally speaking, I am a sucker for bright colors, short sentences, and a complicated story line.

3. There are many culprits that can crush creativity, such as distractions, self-doubt and fear of failure. What tends to stand in the way of your creativity?  

There is a voice I hear often telling me: no one is going to care what you have to say. That voice used to pull me to a full stop in the middle of feeling inspired. It was a voice that kept me small for many years.

In a world where we are able to instantaneously share the things that we create, we open ourselves up to the splendor of immediate feedback. I’ve found that there are times when this community ramps up my creativity, fostering it, and there are times when I have become singularly obsessed with the feedback. Wondering what other people are going to think or who will “like” it on Facebook absolutely stands in the way of my creativity.

4. How do you overcome these obstacles?

I have worked hard to counter these thoughts over the years by learning to do things simply because they light me up. I work daily to give myself full and frequent permission to keep my creations all to myself if I want to. I give myself permission to make things that feel good to make. Often, just giving myself that permission frees up a lot of the stuckage, and reminds me that we can make things simply for our own pleasure or use. I love creating from that perspective – making things that are secretly beautiful or fueled by my own intrigue or adoration.

5. What are some of your favorite resources on creativity?

I love books and programs that foster everyday creativity, the kind of creativity that is regular and found in ordinary moments. Books that I’ve reread often are: The Artist’s Way, Bird by Bird, and Writing Down the Bones. Right now, I’m totally drawn to the self-loving self-portraiture classes that Vivienne McMaster is running. I’ve recently fallen in love with Instagram, even though I know I’m late to the party.

6. What is your favorite way to get your creative juices flowing?

I am completely lit up by blank spaces in my calendar, days wide open with possibility. I found that one of the things that inhibited me before was that I forced myself to create on a timeline. Now, as often as possible, I clear out space so that I can create often and have plenty of time to get it wrong. When I don’t know where to begin, I pick a word out of a book, or go outside and do something fun.

If all else fails, I dance around in my house, which seems to help me get outside of myself and primed to do something unexpected.

7. What’s your advice for readers on cultivating creativity?  

Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Don’t write your last line first. You might not know how your creative endeavor will turn out, but that’s part of the beauty of it, isn’t it? I found that when I was firmly holding onto how I wanted my stories or art to end, I neither enjoyed the process nor created something that felt really good. Begin with what inspires you, but then let your inspiration be the guide. You do not have to know where you are going, just go with yourself.

8. Anything else you’d like readers to know about creativity?

Creativity will save your life. For many, it is the way that our inner wisdom, our inner spark expresses itself. It is an excellent teacher. For those of us who struggle to stay in the present moment or who lose ourselves easily and often, creativity can be the path back to ourselves. Finding moments of beauty throughout our day has the power to completely alter the trajectory of our lives, ushering in new energy and a profound gratitude for the world around us.

Mara Glatzel works with brave women looking to chase what lights them up, and cultivate deeply satisfying lives. In creating this sacred space for women to thrive, she’s bringing a masters in clinical social work, her spot-on intuition, and the lessons picked up along the way as she built a relationship with herself grounded in self-trust. Catch up with her on facebook, twitter, or join her body-loving mailing list for secret swapping and insider news.

“Sometimes they lead to innovation. Sometimes they lead to hours of time dwindled away without purpose.”

In other words, distractions are not created equal. But more often than not the same distractions deplete us and steer us away from creating.

Whether creativity is your livelihood or an integral part of your self-care, here are 15 ways to deal with distractions.

1. Work less.

“I have begun to really believe that the less time you work, the less you waste,” Rosalie said. Distractions seem to strike when we’ve reached our limit. People tend to be productive for 4.5 hours a day, she said, but many of us have to stretch it to 8 or 9. “As a result, our minds invent distractions as a way out, and also as a way to seem productive even when we’re not.” That’s when you start browsing the Web, emailing, texting, tweeting and seeing what everyone is up to on Facebook.

2. Use a kitchen timer.

Artist Jolie Guillebeau gets distracted by everything from social media sites to Hulu to her own ideas. “Basically, anything that isn’t me putting the paint on the canvas can be a distraction.” Her most valuable distraction-taming tool is a kitchen timer.

When I’m ready to paint, I light a candle, set out my paints, clean my brushes, and set a little kitchen timer that sits next to my easel for 20 minutes. As long as the timer is ticking, then I stay in front of the painting. It’s easy when I run into a problem to allow distractions to take over, but with the timer, I keep my focus until the bell rings.

3. Wear earplugs.

Many times it’s not just the noise on our computers that distracts us; it’s also the noise outside the office. For illustrator and painter Carla Sonheim, earplugs help to dim everything from her husband’s music to the traffic.

4. Have a daily quota.

“I work from home and have five children, so I have a cornucopia of distractions for the choosing,” said Miranda Hersey, a writer and editor, creativity coach, and host of the blog Studio Mothers. She also does social media work. “I haven’t yet figured out how to update my clients’ Facebook accounts without reading my personal notifications.”

And she focuses her energy on client work, which leaves little time for her own projects. “I tell myself that I can’t do my own creative projects until all of my other work—particularly the work where other people are depending on me—is done.”

That’s where her quota comes in. Hersey commits to writing at least 500 words of fiction every day. “I use a spreadsheet to log my daily word count: In the past six months, I’ve written nearly 90,00 words. A lot of those words won’t ever see the light of day, but that doesn’t matter. My novel is emerging through this daily practice.”

5. “Front-load” your creative practice.

Hersey works on her creative projects before 6 a.m. This gives her mind the entire day to percolate as she performs other tasks. “Then you’re ready to hit the ground running the next morning.”

Overall, for Hersey, dealing with distractions isn’t about eliminating them. It’s about accomplishing the creative work first. “I’m just making sure that my creative work can’t get eaten up by Facebook and client work and triaging e-mail.”

6. Multitask deliberately.

“It might seem counter-intuitive, but sometimes it helps to embrace my scattered brain and do two things at once,” said Sonheim, also a workshop instructor and author of The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone. One morning she flipped back and forth from a sewing project to a writing piece. “I’d sew, think of something I wanted to add to my writing project, and when I finished that, I would go back to sewing until another idea popped into my head. It was kind of free flowing and nice, to just let the ideas come slowly this way.”

7. Curb clutter.

For creativity coach Gail McMeekin a clear space — both “physical and psychic” — is vital. “I find clutter very distracting so I took everything out of my office a few months ago and only put back in the things that inspire me or that I need,” said McMeekin, author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. She donated her books to the library and trashed old projects and duplicate handouts. (Of course the key is not letting cleaning become another distraction.)

8. Work in sprints.

Rosalie has found that working in two-hour stretches works best. “I’m productive for about two hours at a go, and then my focus dwindles and I’m more inclined to flit away from whatever it is I’m working on, called by the lure of something new, something different, some mental variation and novelty as my productivity wanes.”

9. Surround yourself with people.

Coffeehouses drown out distractions for Sonheim. “The din of conversation seems to ground me.” Plus, leaving her office, which is filled with distractions, also helps.

10. Remove your distractions.

When distractions reach a boiling point, Sonheim takes a cue from her son and takes drastic measures. “Sometimes he’ll ask a friend to babysit his easy Internet access – laptop computer – for a weekend so he can get his homework done… I’ve created similar scenarios to physically remove certain temptations [and] distractions.”

11. Keep yourself publicly accountable.

For several years now Guillebeau has created one painting every day. She also emails a photo of the painting along with a story to her subscribers. “Knowing that a few hundred people are expecting a painting from me every morning really keeps me focused.”

It also helps her be more efficient with other tasks like email. “I’ll do some of the other things that I tend to put off first [before finishing the painting]. This keeps the distractions at bay, because I start to feel a time crunch.”

12. Nap.

“Sometimes I find that if I’m easily distracted it’s because I’m tired,” Sonheim said. She works from home, and has a couch in her office. Depending on her day, she might take a short nap. “When I wake up, I’m often much better able to stay on task.” (It’s not surprising; research has shown that a brief nap is very beneficial.)

13. Make distractions intentional.

According to Rosalie, “Distractions invite the mind to wander and the body to move, and invited on purpose, rather than pursued at random and without intention, distractions can spark new thought patterns and creative collisions.” For instance, when her dog wants to take a walk, she takes a break, and savors walking down the road.

Leaning into distractions can actually enhance productivity. “When I really do give in to distraction and let it capture me fully, I always return to my work with renewed clarity and focus.”

14. Remember distractions are what you make of them.

Distractions “are what you allow them to be,” Hersey said. Take the following example: Hersey worked with a woman who wanted to find time for her creative projects. Her husband has a high-paying job, so she doesn’t work. They also have no children. And she has a space dedicated to creating. But she still couldn’t create. “She was too distracted—by her pets. Her cats and her dog were too demanding. They needed to go out; they needed to come in; they needed to be fed; they came to sit on her lap.”

15. Start now.

“If we fall into the trap of ‘I’ll start painting again when the kids are all in school’ or ‘I’ll work on that short story collection during vacation,’ we won’t ever do the work,” Hersey said. When all your kids are in school, you’ll find 50 other things you need to do. When you go on vacation, you’ll find that it’s not the right environment for creating. And when you prolong your creative process, it morphs from something exciting and energizing into a chore or, as Hersey said, “as appealing as a root canal.”

She suggested paying attention to your words. Any time you say, “when/then,” “catch yourself.” And start now. Carve out just 10 minutes. If your work requires extensive set-up and clean-up, she said, jot down what you can do every day, such as “sketching, collaging or studying the work of masters.”

Distractions will always be aplenty. “As a creative person, challenge yourself to find a solution every time you hear yourself saying ‘No, that won’t work,’” Hersey said. Let a little creativity help you tame those irrelevant things that vie for your attention.

She’s right, it’s a fascinating look at storytelling, and it also includes some terrific exercises to foster creativity. This kind of playful thinking is fun. It’s fun to mess around with ideas, to have new thoughts, to come up with a great idea. It might even inspire you to write a screenplay or start a novel.

Blatant self-promotion: in The Happiness Project, I talk about my experience of writing a novel in a month, inspired by the book, No Plot? No Problem!, written by Chris Baty, also the founder of National Novel Writing Month. Yes, I wrote a novel as long as The Great Gatsby in 30 days.¹

Sometimes creativity exercises are a bit boring – what’s that tiresome exercise with the candle, the cup, the matches? – but these exercises by Snyder, meant to jump-start ideas for movies, are very amusing:

1. Funny _____

   Pick a drama, thriller, or horror film and turn it into a comedy.

2. Serious _____

   Likewise, pick a comedy and make it into a drama. Serious Animal House – Drama about cheating scandal at a small university ends in A Few Good Men-like showdown.

3. FBI out of water.

   This works for comedy or drama. Name five places that a FBI agent in the movies has never been sent to solve a crime. Example: Slob FI agent is sent undercover to a Provence Cooking School.

4. _____ School

   Works for both drama and comedy. Name five examples of an unusual type of school, camp, or classroom. Example: “Wife School.”

5. Versus!

   Drama or comedy. Name several pairs of people to be on opposite sides of a burning issue.

6. My ______ Is a Serial Killer

   Drama or comedy. Name an unusual person, animal, or thing that a paranoid can suspect of being a murderer.

It’s funny: seeing this exercise showed me how screenwriters got the ideas for several very famous movies!

Feeling creative helps boost happiness. While people often associate brooding melancholy as the spirit most appropriate to creative outpourings, research shows that people tend to be more creative when they’re feeling happy.

Do you have any exercises you use
to help spark your story-telling spirit?

1. Actually, I’ve written three very bad novels, all safely locked in a desk drawer.

But the kicker is that you can. You can express your creativity in oh-so-many ways. That’s why I love interviewing a variety of individuals, everyone from photographers to coaches to artists to authors, on their creative process and inspiration. Everyone has their own approaches, routines, muses and creations.

This month I’m pleased to present my interview with Jess Greene, the founder of Seek Your Course, a website that features creative courses and workshops. It’s essentially one big hub for creativity. Workshops and classes are a wonderful way to discover your inner creative, spark your imagination and play. (And we know play for adults is powerful.)

I love Greene’s site and her emphasis on empowering everyone to engage their creativity and craft inspired lives. At Seek Your Course, she also pens a super helpful blog on creativity. (Check out one of my favorite posts on 100 ways to nurture yourself.)

And she’s an artist herself, working in encaustic and book arts. Greene lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and two dogs.

1. Do you incorporate creativity-boosting activities into your daily routine? If so, what activities do you do

Yes. I watch TED talks, browse through blogs, take long showers filled with brainstorming, journal, go for walks, and go to the gym. Those things all help me be more creative and loosen the flows of ideas. But I mix it up. I don’t do the same thing every day.

2. What are your inspirations for your work?

As the founder of Seek Your Course, my inspiration comes from the powerful creative work that so many people are putting out into the world via their blogs and classes. I am constantly inspired by the beauty that I get to be part of.

As a painter I am inspired by common human experiences of relationships, growing older, emotional reactions, and our movements across the planet. I love working with the shape of a house and map-like markings.

3. There are many culprits that can crush creativity, such as distractions, self-doubt and fear of failure. What tends to stand in the way of your creativity?

I tend to pack my schedule too tight for any mysterious spark of creativity to have room to play. Time and to-do lists can kill you if you don’t manage them right.

4. How do you overcome these obstacles?

I try to recognize that I am more creative and productive when I have time to do things like go for a walk, go to yoga class, and cook myself a nice lunch. I set alarms and timers to remind myself to take breaks. It’s all about whether or not I remember how hard it is to work without creative breaks.

5. What are some of your favorite resources on creativity?

Books! I have many art-related books, most of which are mostly visual and less text. Flipping through them helps me maintain a creative spirit. I also recently started buying books on the subject of creativity, but I haven’t started reading them yet. One in particular that I am excited about is The Creative Habit. It is on my must-read list for 2013.

6. What is your favorite way to get your creative juices flowing?

Taking a break from my work to make a stunning meal from scratch. Something about chopping vegetables and smelling the melting butter gets me in a creative mood.

7. What’s your advice for readers on cultivating creativity?

Break up your day as best you can. Mix it up. I know many people have limited flexibility with their jobs, but try to work from different places, get a walk in the middle of the day, or at least get decent food to keep you going.

8. Anything else you’d like readers to know about creativity?

Everyone is creative. I hear people say all the time, “Oh, but I’m not creative.” That’s ridiculous. To be creative is to have your own thoughts and to engage your creativity is to share your thoughts and be heard and acknowledged. Everyone needs opportunities to have their own thoughts be acknowledged for them. So make sure you make that happen for yourself.

Self-doubt can persuade us to stop creating or keep us from sending our work out into the world. It can be so influential that it colors how we see ourselves, ensuring we don’t pick up a pen, paintbrush, camera or other tool for decades.

“Self-doubt paralyzed me for 25 years,” said Meghan Davidson, Ph.D, a psychologist, professor and researcher at the University of Nebraska. When Davidson was eight years old, her art teacher wrote in her report card that she had “no artistic ability whatsoever.”

This destroyed Davidson. Her teacher’s words became a running joke in her family, who had no idea of their crushing effect.

It was only after a personal health crisis reminded her of the brevity of life that Davidson decided to pursue her creativity. She picked up a camera. Today, she’s an accomplished photographer whose work has been featured in gallery shows and publications such as UPPERCASE and Artful Blogging.

Jolie Guillebeau’s project of 100 paintings a day “originated entirely from self-doubt.” “In February 2010, I wasn’t sure that I could even call myself an artist, because I wasn’t really painting. I’d been paralyzed from my own angst and hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in months.”

She decided to prove herself wrong. After completing 100 paintings, Guillebeau felt more like an artist. But her self-doubt lingered. So she stepped out of the comfort of her studio, and painted outside for an entire summer.

Tips to Overcome Self-Doubt

“Creativity means navigating new terrain, and it’s scary and uncomfortable,” according to Carla Sonheim, an illustrator, workshop instructor and author of the new book The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone.

So feeling self-doubt is natural. “Self-doubt is a part of human nature,” Davidson said. But because it sabotages creativity, it’s important to know how to overcome it. Here are 10 ways to surmount self-doubt, so you can focus on the good stuff: creating.

1. Remember self-doubt is a story.

As Davidson said, thinking you’re not good at something doesn’t make it true. Her art teacher triggered her self-doubt, but it was the stories spinning in Davidson’s mind that stopped her from creating. And these disempowering tales were clearly distorted.

2. Remember why you create.

“Remind yourself of what you want to do and why you want to do it,” Davidson said. For instance, connecting to your creativity might be part of your self-care or a longing in your spirit, she said.

3. Take small steps.

Even when self-doubt is deafening, “take tiny steps toward your goal every day,” Guillebeau said. “Maybe you can’t create the Great American Novel today, but perhaps you can write 750 words? Or your self-doubt is in the way of creating a painting, but at least going to the art supply store and buying a paintbrush is possible.”

4. Marvel at others’ talent.

When painting alongside her artist friend, Gail McMeekin would feel a flood of self-doubt and insecurity. “[I’d] feel overshadowed and totally inept,” said McMeekin, LICSW, a coach to creative women entrepreneurs and professionals and author of The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women.

Today, instead of letting someone else’s talents negate her own or hinder her creativity, she’s learned to “adopt an attitude of wonderment.”

She encouraged readers to “Notice the genius of the people who are teaching you or sharing a moment with you and soak up what you admire and aspire to, to use in your own work. Enjoy the privilege of being around creators who inspire you without trashing yourself.”

5. Reframe your self-doubt.

Like Guillebeau did with her painting projects, use self-doubt to fuel your creativity. Prove it wrong. Take the challenge. “By determining to prove that naysayer wrong, I’ve managed to create a daily painting practice that has evolved in to my livelihood and my career,” Guillebeau said.

Consider the positive side of self-doubt, like Sonheim. “Self-doubt often acts as a measuring stick, helping me to determine whether I’m playing it safe or really sticking my neck out.”

6. Surround yourself with supportive people.

“Look for supportive or encouraging people to help cheer you on [in your creative pursuits],” Davidson said.

7. Celebrate your creations.

For instance, McMeekin displays her paintings around her home. “Let your work remind you that beauty can appear when you trust yourself and luxuriate in your fascinations and playfulness,” she said.

8. Talk to someone you trust. “

Even if they don’t really understand what you are going on about, their comments and questions — and your gut reactions to them — can help clarify the why of your uneasiness,” Sonheim said.

You’ll also be able to process your emotions more effectively when you figure out if they’re internal or external, she said.

9. Find what puts you in your creative zone.

“Experiment until you discover what puts you into your theta brain and sparks your creative journey,” McMeekin said. She turns to journaling, music and other inspirational tools, such as her Creativity Courage Cards. “I often wear out the same music, and even one song over and over, at times, as the melody entrances me to create and get into my fertile garden in my mind.”

10. Just go for it.

“You have nothing to lose,” Davidson said. (You don’t have to share your creations with anyone, she said.) “I wish I hadn’t listened to the self-doubt gremlins for 20-some years. I could’ve been doing this for all this time. But it’s never too late to just jump in and play. And go in with childlike curiosity.”

That childlike curiosity is a great reminder of how limitless, joyful and incredibly liberating creativity can be. “I often remember the utter joy I felt in kindergarten on that first day when I dipped my hands in gorgeous, brightly colored fingerpaints and was told that I could put my paints on my wet paper any way I chose and it would be all right,” McMeekin said.

“Overcoming self-doubt involves believing that you can do it, accepting your strengths and limitations, fixing what you can, and then taking a risk by moving forward, even if you don’t have all the answers,” Sonheim said.

She shared this beautiful quote from actor and author Alan Alda on creativity: “Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You cannot get there by bus, only by hard work, risking and by not quite knowing what you are doing. What you will discover will be wonderful: Yourself.”

This is where many artists and creators become “blocked” and engage in paralyzing self-sabotage. How often do we hear that someone is “waiting for inspiration to come to them?”

However, creativity is not something static. It is a fluid process that we can connect to with the right mindset.

Here are 5 ways you can reconnect with your inner motivation and desire to create art, finish your novel, choreograph a new dance, or add an extra part to your piano composition…

5 Tips to Reconnect with Creativity

1. Understand that creative ideas become better over time.

   It’s easy to get discouraged when you begin to work on something and quickly become your own worst critic by thinking something like “this is a bad idea” or “this has been done before.” Creative ideas, artistic flow and divergent thinking become reinforced over time and through firing of new mental associations. The first idea may not be that good, but the second will be better and the third even better than the second and so on.

2. Keep asking yourself why you want to create.

   It’s common to forget why you set off to do something in the first place. Motivation slowly gets lost and you lose track of what you initially hoped to achieve. Whether it’s to become smarter, to heal from past trauma, to get in shape, to make money or to be more marketable in today’s job market, it is important that you keep asking yourself — and reminding yourself daily — what motivates you to become creative.

3. Minimize distractions or reasons not to create.

   Naturally, you might be facing some environmental circumstances that make it difficult for you to create. Your children may be sick, you may be feeling depressed, there may be construction in a nearby building or you simply may feel burned out from day-to-day responsibilities. Whatever it is, it is very important that you identify what these distractions are and tackle them one at a time in order to resolve or minimize them.

4. Get external stimulation.

   When you are waiting for inspiration to “come to you,” you are setting up a trap for yourself. If you want to write a poem, reread your favorite poets. If you want to put a dance group together, go to a dance show every week for a month. If you want to add another chapter to your book, watch a movie, go to a museum, have a discussion with a friend, anything that will add some extra mental stimulation to your thought process.

5. Talk about it.

   An artist often may feel compelled to keep his or her creative journey internal, to quietly and discreetly surrender to the gradual decrease of his or her motivation. This could be because it is too painful to bring up, or because it is embarrassing to admit to a block, or even due to denial that low motivation exists. However, by talking about it to a friend, a mentor or a counselor, one’s intentions become more concrete, the obstacles to creativity become more apparent and the problems begin to seem more manageable.

Daily life can slowly chip away at your desire to create, to improve your skills and to become successful in what you do. Hopefully, these five steps will help you reconnect with your inner motivation to do what once may have seemed like the most natural thing.

Here are some tips for getting some visual art into your daily routine, without spending a lot of time, energy, or money.

1. Check out art books from the library. Art books are very expensive, but at the library, you can enjoy as many as you want, for free.

2. Here’s a brilliant suggestion from a reader: When she’s at a museum, she buys postcards of her favorite works of art. She keeps a big stack of these masterpiece postcards, and from time to time, puts a new bunch in the sun visor of her car. When she’s stuck in traffic, she pulls them out and looks at them.

3. Enjoy picture books. We tend to look at picture books only when we’re around very young children, but picture books can be such a source of joy. I wrote a series of posts for the New York Times Motherlode blog about my love of picture books.

4. Don’t feel like you have to spend hours in a museum.  My family has become members of several museums, so we can visit as often as we like, and for as long or as short a time as we like, without having to pay extra. I find that I like visiting museums much more when I go often, and for a short time.

5. Treat a a store like an art gallery. Visit some outrageously exquisite store, or even a department store or hardware store, without the expectation of purchase — just to enjoy the items there. Added bonus: in a store, you can touch and handle objects. A few months ago, I spent a good five minutes running my hands over a fake-fur throw during a trip to Bloomingdale’s. Extremely satisfying.

6. Make something yourself. There’s a great pleasure in making something by hand — even something as basic as sticking cloves into an orange to make a pomander ball. During high school, I made dozens of pomander balls. Find out something you’d like to make, and set aside time and space to do it.

7. Use sites like Pinterest or Instagram. It’s funny — one way of laying claim to a beautiful object is to take a photograph of it. Taking photos of beautiful sights, or “pinning” them, is a very satisfying way to engage with the world, and then you can look back with great pleasure on all your images. Your own gallery. (You can follow me on Pinterest and Instagram, if you’re curious to see what I’m choosing.)

What other strategies do you use to bring the pleasure of visual art into your everyday life?

Speaking of beautiful images, last night I saw my friend Natalie, also known as Nat the Fat Rat Lots to look at and read on her blog. (I keep forgetting to ask how her blog got that name.)

In it, she features valuable questions to help readers keep rediscovering ourselves. “Your creative voice lies within the answers,” she writes.

That’s because curiosity is king in creativity. We’re ever-evolving. So it’s important to check in with ourselves on a regular basis. Every question may uncover a different and even surprising response.

Asking these questions helps us better understand the kinds of projects and practices that truly light us up. It helps us find new ideas, methods and even mediums. In other words, the answers to these questions help to inform our creative practice.

Renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz is still finding “new ways to explore her art,” even after almost 40 years of practicing her craft, Cummings writes. “[Leibovitz] said that every time she tries something new, she realizes ‘just how deep that well really is.’”

If you’re not sure how to tap into your well of creativity, Cummings suggests starting with questions such as:

• “What are you working on when you lose all sense of time?”
• “What are you doing when you feel your best?”
• “What kinds of creative projects are you working on when you feel most fulfilled?”

Figuring Out Your Favorites

Knowing what you love also steers you in the right direction for cultivating a creative practice. For instance, Cummings suggests identifying your favorites, including your favorite color, book, food, exercise, type of art and place to visit.

Digging Deeper

Next dig deeper by asking yourself why. Why is something your favorite? For instance, why do you prefer one place, color or food over another?

Also, she writes, consider who your heroes are; what success looks like for you; what’s working and what isn’t; and what’s “that thing” that makes you love something you’ve created.

The Practice of Creating

Pondering these questions will give you vital insights. But, ultimately, the key in finding your voice is to create. “The more you create, the closer you will get to discovering or even stumbling into your unique point of view,” she writes.

For instance, take writing. Considering your favorite books and authors and the type of writing you’d like to do are important for exploring your own craft. But you won’t know what kind of writer you are until you actually put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and keep creating.

According to Cummings, knowing yourself well gives you a core to keep coming back to when you need support and encouragement to move forward, “even on the days when you temporarily lose your way.”

Further Reading

For loads of inspiration, check out Marisa Anne Cummings’s art and other works.