Top 10 Creative Cures

To wrap up 2007, I've compiled the top 10 creative cures posted during the last year. Try one today!

• Creativity Cure 1: Take small breaks. More...
• Creativity Cure 2: Keep a daily passion log. More...
• Creativity Cure 3: Stop living up to the standards of other people's ideas about creativity. More...
• Creativity Cure 4: Dedicate a space to creativity. More...
• Creativity Cure 5: Notice the details of your life. More...
• Creativity Cure 6: Make inspiration cards. More...
• Creativity Cure 7: Take some time and write a history of your creativity. More...
• Creativity Cure 8: Work on more than one project at a time. More...
• Creativity Cure 9: Take a field trip. More...
• Creativity Cure 10: Start an inspiration wall. More...

Creativity Cure 11

• Take a walk. With each step let your mind clear then refill it with new ideas. Observe the insights that occur.

It's Our Blogaversary!

(Image Graciously Provided by KAR)

Today is Dose of CREATIVITY's first birthday. I am happy to celebrate with all of my devoted readers, who have been super supportive these past 12 months.

To keep providing you with the content you crave, I've created a short (it's less than 15 questions!) survey to help improve this blog in the upcoming year.

As a 'thank you' for completing the survey, I'll email you a copy of Dose of CREATVITY's Top 10 Creative Cures, including a never before posted bonus one.

• The survey is now closed. Please email me comments and suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Creative Visualization

“I shut my eyes in order to see.” - - - Paul Gauguin

• Try a creativity inducing visualization here.

Group Genius

Do you believe becoming a creative genius is an isolated and individual process? Most people would agree with you but not Keith Sawyer. In Group Genius: the Creative Power of Collaboration he dispels this myth by using improv and jazz as successful examples of group creativity. In both processes, a small spark is created when group members interact with one another by building on previous sparks.

Sawyer goes into more depth about these sparks, even explaining that they occur in all stages of the collaborative creative process:

1. Preparation
2. Time off
3. The spark
4. Selection
5. Elaboration

What makes this different from most theories of group creativity is that you don't have to participate in a traditional brainstorming session to get results. In fact, the most fascinating part of the book is when Sawyer debunks the myths of Morse, Edison and Darwin as individual geniuses. Instead, he explains how they developed their ideas during years of exploration, outside influences, and previous inventions.

This theory appeals to what I've always believed about creativity and that is that you can't create in a bubble. You need to embrace random experiences and diverse opinions and blend them with your personal style.

• Who has shaped your creative spark?

Creative Process

I recently finished a creative project for a friend and presented it to her last weekend. Letting go of this creation was difficult, as I'd spent the last several weeks working on it.

This all got me to thinking about the creative process and how each of us has our own style for completing projects.

Typically, the creative process is defined as follows:

1. Preparation (defining what you will create, researching and studying possibilities)


2. Incubation (stepping away from your project and letting your mind rest)


3. Illumination (when the idea explosion occurs)


4. Verification (testing the final product)

But like so many prescriptions for creativity, there is no set way that the process must flow. Some of us may spend all of our time on the preparation while others may still be waiting for illumination.

• What's your creative process?

Creativity Cure 10

• Start an inspiration wall. Whenever you see something that strikes you, from a quote to a scenic view or even a new product, put it up on a bulletin board. Before you know it you will have an entire collection of inspiration.