The best way to predict the future? Create it!
Wohooooooooo!!! 🤸♂️
What is the day going to bring today?
Hello lovelies, is it already Monday again? ☘️
I hope you had a brilliant weekend, full of joy, relaxation, amazing conversations, a good book, lots of coffee, and the feeling that even though things are far away from normal or even good, you are doing the best you can.☀️
My weekend was full of paint and pots, reading and research, coffee and cake, and mainly being horizontal during most of it (inspired by the laziest animals on the planet that we are blessed to call our pets). 😊 I deliberately plan this kind of down-time on Saturdays and Sundays, where my focus lies on gaining as much INPUT as I possibly can absorb, because my work requires me to create massive amounts of OUTPUT (in the forms of words, strategies, art direction and design) during the week. In summary: I had a super weekend! 😜
Creativity is humanity’s superpower.
I have been working in the creative industry for more than a decade now, running agencies and brand strategy set-ups since I was 24 years old. Without being formally trained in graphic design or art direction, I had to learn the hard way that being creative is F*CKING TOUGH WORK. 🐒 Don’t get me wrong - I love what I am doing! But coming up with a great idea is luck only 1 out of 100 times. In the case of the remaining 99 ones, it is nothing but the result of deliberate organisation, planning and hard work, work, work.🤓
Most of us have a wrong perception of what it means to be creative.
First things first: Being creative is not limited to a skill such as painting, writing, cooking, or designing. Creativity starts one step before: with a thought. A hunch. A dream! A vision. The term’s root means exactly that. ‘Creatio’ derived from the Latin term ‘creō’, referecing “God's act of 'Ex nihilo”: The creation from nothing. How apt!
So why don’t we re-define our idea of creativity?
Instead of defining creativity as an act of implementation only, let us think of it as
1. Looking at an old problem from new perspectives, and coming up with new solutions as a result ☘️
2. Connecting things that at first glance seem completely unrelated and find larger, hidden patterns ☀️
3. An act of dreaming and imagination, followed by action (turning your dream into reality with the help of skills) 💖
It is in the action where skills have a role to play. The potential of dreaming and imaging is already inside all of us. Each of us is thus creative by default (yipiehhh)! Especially in the times of the ‘Coronasaince’, it was never more important than now to dream of a new future - and then go ahead and create it.
So it’s time to wake up your inner artist today, and shake up your creative juices, with these five simple steps:
1. Start with something super small and simple.
You don’t have to become the next Picasso! 🎨 Often, we limit our creative process by comparing ourselves and the result of our work with the big masters of the past. What we casually forget: Every artist was once an amateur, and started out as an absolute beginner. So stop worrying, throw away all ideas of self-doubt, forget about the photos you have seen on Etsy and Instagram, and “Nike that sh*t”. Don’t bother with oil paint, a canvas, and a dream about an art exhibition to kick-off your journey… why not start with painting a set of flower pots? 🤗 Knowing your creative type can help, too. Here is a fun quick test to find out about yours!
2. Spend time in nature or with nature.
Mama Nature is our best and most influential teacher. Without words and just by her actions alone, she shows us how to be patient and yet grow, how to be quiet and the most active at the same time, how to solve problems, how to cooperate, how to protect, and - maybe one of the most important characteristics these days - how to be mega-ultra-resilient. 🌿 Nature always will find a way to create life! So even if you can’t step out right now and hug your favourite tree, look at nature outside your window. Observe the birds (and learn what they can teach us about celebrating life), see how the leaves react to wind, rain and sunshine, and take notes. Especially if you have kids, why don’t you start an explorer’s notebook by watching nature at the same time every day, and write down your observations? You’ll be surprised how much you all will discover!
3. Be mindful.
We are so good at doing 20 things at the same time. Why not deliberately mono-task today? Drink your cup of coffee sip by sip, and with your eyes closed. How does it taste and smell? How does its texture feel on your tongue? What does it do to your body once you’ve swallowed it? Is your brain feeling funky? (Then its great coffee!) 😆 The more mindful we become, even during the most mundane activities, the more we will be able to observe connections and insights, we otherwise so happily overlook.
4. Keep going!
As creativity needs to be trained like a muscle, it is important to practice an act of deliberate creation Every. Single. Day. I repeat: Every.Single.Day! 🌱 I often make lists of little projects I want to work on, and then prepare all ‘ingredients’ (currently: paint, seeds and flower pots for expanding my little plant nursery) so that I have no excuse but start.
Who would have thought that paining flower pots is the ultimate source of joy and contentment? 🤗
5. Put on some good tunes!
Dont’ worry about this - I’ve got your back. Just keep reading! 💃
Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul.*
To help you groove into the day, and shake up those slumbering artist juices, there is no better way than diving into “The Alien Jams”! Ajja, who is one of the world’s best psytrance DJs (apart from being a producer, label manager, brilliant guitar player, graphic and tattoo artist 🤸♂️), recorded this magical acoustic-electronic-ambient-all-time-favourite-album together with his buddy Cosmosis. ☀️ And no, it is not psytrance! 😜
Press play, close your eyes for a moment, take a few deep breaths, and imagine being on a beautiful beach. The waves roll rhythmically in the background, the sun is hot, your drink is cold, and all you are at this moment is happy, relaxed, and truly at peace. Everything. Is. Just. Fine. And all it takes is your imagination to bring you there. 💖
Have a rocking Monday!
With love from Goa,
Isabelle 🌿
*Plato said this, and proofs once again that he is the most amazing of all those ancient Greek philosophers. #Fangirl 😅
