THE BIG FIVE
If we don’t use our creativity, we risk losing our creativity.
Why?
Well because our creativity will turn itself onto sleep mode and start enjoying an extended nap.
Don’t get me wrong, our creativity will still be there, but if we’re not using it, then it will become dormant. Most likely leading us to question its very existence. Because chances are, if your creativity is dormant, you’re unlikely to feel very creative.
This is actually fantastic news. It means, we have far more agency over our creativity than we think. It also means that our creativity - or what we might have come to believe is a lack thereof - isn’t the real problem.
Far from it.
The real problem, is not knowing how we go about waking our creativity up in the first place.
It’s here, we typically find ourselves in a chicken-and-egg situation though.
We want to feel creative before we start using our creativity, and so, we wait. We wait for a feeling to show up before taking any action which is the equivalent of hitting the snooze button. Repeatedly. Letting our creativity loaf around like a lazy teenager.
If we want to wake our creativity up, we can’t wait to feel creative and then act. We must approach it the other way around. We must act creatively first. Then, our creativity will begin to stir. It’s the action we take that wakes it up and gets it moving. That’s when we feel our creativity in motion, and that’s when we will start to feel creative.
So, what action do we need to take?
Well, there are certain behaviours that underpin creativity. Behaviours that, when practised consistently, support and strengthen it.
You can think of these behaviours a bit like a primer for your creativity, on their own they won’t make the finished results, but they will prepare and optimise the conditions for your creativity to show up and shine through.
The creative behaviours I’m referring to are simply human ones, ways of being and behaving we all have the capacity for. That being said, even though we all have the capacity to use these behaviours, doesn’t assume that we all do, or indeed, that we’re using all of them. That’s why these behaviours tend to exist on a scale; Off, Paused or On.
OFF – meaning we never turn these behaviours on and therefore never practise using them.
PAUSED – we turn them on occasionally but don’t practise them consistently.
ON - these behaviours are turned on, consistently practised and fully embodied.
To activate our creativity - in other words give it a good prod, a strong cup of coffee and then kick it out of bed - we need to turn these behaviours ON. By practising them intentionally, repeatedly and consistently, we dial them up, full whack.
This also comes down to choice.
We use these behaviours simply by choosing them.
When we do, we begin to reverse engineer the process. The external begins to influence the internal, and we begin activating our creativity and then mobilising it.
And so what are these creative behaviours?
I call them…The Big Five.
Openness
Experimentation
Resilience
Adaptability
Non-conformity
These Creative Behaviours can all be turned on and dialled up independently. However there is an interconnectivity that exists between them all. Using one will often involve the others. Over time, each behaviour becomes interwoven and inseparable. Eventually, with enough consistent practice, an invisible mesh will form; a strong, supportive foundation that will underpin your creativity.
Otherwise known as a creative mindset.
The more you practice the behaviours the stronger and more supportive that mesh or mindset will become. The stronger and more supported your creativity will feel and in turn, happily, the more you will feel it.
Over the coming weeks I’m going to unpack each creative behaviour in more detail, exploring what it means to start dialling each one up. In the meantime, I invite you to consider the Big Five and ask yourself: how actively are these behaviours being practised in your life? Are they turned on, and if so, just how far are they dialled up? And perhaps more importantly, is there room to take them any further?
If your creativity is snoozing, it’s hoping there is.