Stop killing your creativity!

I want to talk a little more about what it is to be a flake.

I use the term as a humorous way to think about the problem — and it is a problem — and to liberate myself from the fear of being criticized. That fear can be paralyzing, and can keep us from doing things that give us the most joy.

Let’s face it, if you’re a flake, you have heard criticism all your life. The last thing you want is to see one more person rolling their eyes at another one of your ideas, or to hear one more, “How are you gonna make money with that?”

So you start to shut yourself down. You stop talking about your ideas. And pretty soon, the ideas stop coming. Now what you do?

You can start by scoffing — yes, scoffing — at those who would criticize. Embrace your creative flakiness. Let the ideas roll and talk about them as much as you want. Find other flakes who will understand, and share your ideas with them.

It’s true, some of your ideas won’t pan out. That’s just the way it is with ideas. But if you’re not allowed to explore them, NONE of them will pan out. And if you’re not allowing yourself to explore your creativity, you are committing slow suicide.

There is nothing funny about this.

I am deadly serious: killing your creativity will kill you emotionally. It almost killed me.

And let’s be clear about creativity as well: we’re not just talking about artistic creativity here. Any idea is a form of creativity, whether it’s a better way to do something in your job, a way to help people that you can turn into a business, or a new way to combine colors.

In one of my favorite books, the I Ching, another word for the Divine is the Creative. To me, nothing is more sacred than creativity. It is the expression of whatever is divine in our human nature. If you believe in a Higher Power, your creativity is your connection to that power.

But letting your ideas roll is not enough. You need to find a way to nurture and encourage the best of them to grow into a full-fledged thing, whatever that thing might be. And for us flakes, that is indeed a problem.

We tend to hit a roadblock right about the time that first, yummy glow of excitement over a new idea wears off. The roadblock is called Fear. (Oh God, how familiar am I with that one!)

What are we afraid of?

For me, it’s that blank space in my head after the initial rush fades. That’s what is going on with me right now. I got the idea for a new business of blogging about radio and how to create your Internet radio show/podcast/whatever, got all excited about it, announced it to everybody — and now I have to produce.

But my mind went blank.

I couldn’t think of anything to say, in spite of a long list of good ideas. And that’s perfectly normal. So is the fear that comes with it. What comes next is the hard part.

And flakes, I’m sorry, but we’re not too good at hard stuff.

What do flakes do when we hit that first roadblock? If you’re like me, you jump to another idea — fast. Then you’re back in the adrenaline rush of a new idea. It feels good. There’s an addictive quality to it, like being in love with love. And it’s a big relief, because that scary old place called Fear is not a comfortable place to be.

Now, you might have hit that roadblock because you discovered real problems that make it unrealistic to bring your idea to fruition. There’s nothing wrong with dropping an unworkable idea. But if you know it’s a good idea, and you’re feeling the familiar urge to drop it because you’re uncomfortable or just plain afraid, try to bear with that discomfort a little while longer. It won’t last, I promise.

It’s a lot like getting your body in shape: it’s hard at first, uncomfortable, maybe even painful — but it gets easier every time you do it. So, exercise your creative muscles by working through the roadblocks, one block at a time.

But be gentle with yourself.

Just like physical exercise, it’s important not to overdo it in the beginning. You don’t want to scare your creativity back into hiding.

One technique I like is a timed exercise. It helps me get through any task I don’t want to do, like cleaning or decluttering, but I just realized it can also help me work through these roadblocks. So I’m going to set my timer for 15 minutes and work on getting through the first roadblock in my new business, 15 minutes at a time. It’s amazing what you can get done in 15 minutes when you set your mind to it.

And then what?

PRAISE. That’s what we need, lots of praise, to counter all the criticism we’ve heard through the years. Like children and dogs, flakes need praise. Hell, everybody needs praise. [And as Gareth pointed out in the comments, treats work too.]

Let’s do that for each other, okay? Come back here and use the comments section, if you want to, to give and get the praise and encouragement we all crave.

What’s your roadblock? Work on it for 15 minutes and then come back and tell us what you did.

Photo credit: maven