Three Ways to Powerfully Reawaken Your Creativity

Three Ways to Powerfully Reawaken Your Creativity

A writer’s life is often filled with many demands, challenges and conflicting priorities. As a result, many writers experience chronic stress which can negatively impact their craft and dampen their sense of creativity. Here are three simple yet powerfully effective ways to breathe life into your writing and reawaken your sense of creativity and passion.

1) Let Go of Your Biggest Writing Disappointment

This week, choose to let go of you greatest writing disappointment and enjoy a vast sense of personal freedom. For this exercise you will need a 3 by 5 index card, a pen, a helium balloon and approximately 15 inches of string or ribbon. Prior to beginning this exercise sit quietly and take a few deep-cleansing breaths.

Think about the area of your writing life that causes you the most heartache or sense of failure. This could be the fact that you have reached a certain age and have yet to publish your work. Or perhaps you are most troubled by the lack of support you receive from others who urge you to concentrate your efforts into “a real job.” Maybe you feel hopelessly blocked and every time you sit down to write you hear the harsh, critical voice of your six grade English teacher whispering in your ear. Write down your life’s greatest writing heartache and stressor on your 3 by 5 index card.

Next, attach the index card to your helium balloon with the ribbon. Go outside with your balloon. Spend a few minutes thinking about how your greatest stressor has affected your writing and creativity. Gently release your balloon into the air into a wide open space. As your balloon drifts into the sky, imagine that your greatest writing disappointment is floating out of your life forever, just like this balloon. Imagine how wonderful and freeing it feels to have this problem completely removed from your life. Envision that you are giving this problem back to the universe, back to God or back to any power greater than yourself. Whenever negative feelings resurface; picture this balloon floating away in your mind's eye. This exercise is a great way to let go of anything that seems out of your control. It can be repeated as needed to release problems in any area of your life and help renew your creativity.

2) Set Your Intention Each Day

Each day upon awakening, ask yourself. “What is my intention for the day?” This is really just another way of asking yourself “What do I want for myself and what am I willing to allow into my life?” Examples of daily intentions are “Today I intend to write for at least thirty minutes or get 1500 words on paper.” or “My intention today is to connect with other writers and discover new ways to market my book”. Other examples of intention include “My intention today is to extend kindness to every person that I encounter” or “Today I will experience inner peace no matter what happens.” On many days, your intention may not be related to your writing but can powerfully effect your creativity. Most people give very little thought to their daily desires. Chaotic, overscheduled lives often cause us to live in an unconscious way. As a result, we wind up creating lives that cause dissatisfaction and are not in alignment with our deepest longings. Intention is a powerful tool that will help you manifest your writing goals by gently guiding where you place your attention every day. You may find that once you begin setting an intention each day, you feel the need to make drastic life changes related to your job, relationship status or family life. Or perhaps the only things will change is the way you view life and your newfound sense of prolific creativity. Declaring a daily intention will help you clarify your values and determine what will truly bring you happiness, both on and off the page. In addition, your awareness will shift and you will attract the people, experiences and things that you want into your life.

3) Start a Gratitude Journal

Gratitude is a powerful feeling that can help us reconnect with a sense of creativity, purpose and passion. In these troubled economic times, it’s easy to focus on the problems that surround us and experience anxiety about our future. By spending a few moments appreciating what we have each day, we can gently guide our minds into a more creative, receptive state. It is extremely helpful to maintain a journal of appreciation and thankfulness. Many people find the mere practice of keeping a gratitude journal helps them to stay focused on their personal and professional writing goals. Writing a gratitude list is also a great way to remedy a case of writer’s block. Each night before going to sleep, make a list of all the things that you are grateful for in your life. Learning to appreciate the things that you already have creates a tremendous sense of joy. As you author your nightly gratitude list, review your day and feel thankful for all the positive things that happened to you and helpful people that crossed your path. Some people find it useful to analyze the events of the day in sequential or reverse-chronological order. Remember that there is nothing too small or trivial to feel grateful about. Examples of items of on a gratitude list include “I am grateful for my son’s beautiful smile.” “I am so thankful for this bed I sleep in." or “I feel grateful that I have a car that runs and that I had the money to repair the flat tire I had today.” As you write your gratitude list, focus on the positive emotion that feeling thankful evokes within you. When you feel as if you have completed your daily gratitude list, take a few moments and see if you can think of anything else to appreciate. It is also beneficial to fall asleep reciting your gratitude list silently to yourself. After keeping your gratitude journal, you will be amazed at all the new and fresh ideas that your gratitude has awakened within your mind.

Aileen McCabe-Maucher is a licensed clinical social worker/psychotherapist and registered nurse who has helped many people find inner peace and discover their unique life purpose. Aileen has fifteen years of experience providing individual and group counseling to a diverse client population. She is a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Widener University, University of Delaware, and The Gestalt Therapy Institute of Philadelphia at Bryn Mawr College. Aileen studied yoga and the chakra system at The Yoga Lifestyle Center in Paoli, Pennsylvania. She is the author of the book, The Inner Peace Diet, which was published by Penguin/ Alpha Books and released nationwide on December 2, 2008.

A free sample of Aileen's books, The Inner Peace Diet, and Find Your Life Purpose Now: Recipes for Making Your Dreams Come True can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Aileen-McCabe-Maucher/e/B003IUBRLK