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5 Simple and Instant Creativity Boosts, by Melissa Harris

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Perhaps you don't consider yourself creative. But, we are all creative: our creativity simple emerges in different ways. Consider the imagination one employs to make intelligent financial decisions, or how one can come up with yummy and inexpensive recipes with healthy ingredients. We call upon our creative selves many times in the course of a day, but some of us don't count these acts as imaginative. We have been conditioned to believe that only those that paint, write, play music, etc. are officially the "creatives." Our beliefs that we are not creative sometimes begin early on if we were not encouraged in that way by our families. Perhaps we may have been told in school that we should stick to more practical subjects. It's easy to fall prey to accepting the image of how someone else sees us. When we know ourselves well and are confident in our abilities, the reflections of others do not affect us.

The following are some ways to support your creative urges. If you don't think you are creative, or if you are feeling creatively blocked, these five simple suggestions will help you push through.

1. 1. Mindfulness
      When we are not mindful we may miss opportunities for finding inspiration. What do I mean by "mindful?" When we are mindful we are completely present in the moment; when we are present we are not focused on the past or the future. Our attention is on our in-the-moment circumstance, and we have an awareness of our surroundings by way of all our senses.Track yourself to observe how present you are just for one hour as you are going about your day. Stop to check in often to see if your mind is on the past or if you are thinking ahead. Inevitably, you will be doing this to some degree. When you catch yourself, gently bring your focus back to present time. As you get in the habit of monitoring yourself this way, it becomes more automatic and easier to stay in the moment.

      Now that you are present and available for inspiration you may discover that the beauty of the road you drive down each day inspires a painting. Or that the sound of the birds singing lifts your heart and puts you more in the mood to clean or re-arrange your home. With a clear head you may find that conversations with friends may act as fodder for a piece of writing. The rewards of a clear and peaceful mind are many.

1. 1. Enlarge Your Vision
      Take a moment to contemplate how you may be keeping your vision small. "Your vision" of what?, you may be asking. This could include a specific project on which you are working or even how you view your life. I speak to many folks who don't even bother to try and think big because they have felt trapped for so long. Often when we have been stuck in a rut we forget that there may be solutions or options of which we have not even thought. Conversing with a trusted friend is a good way to shake things up as long as we are not complaining, simply conversing.I remember feeling stuck with a particular painting. A friend was visiting, and she remarked that it would look so good with……….and made her suggestion. I followed up with her vision and was pleased at the way it turned out. I was surprised that I had not thought of it. My ego stepped out of the way in order to be open to her suggestion—another aid in the creative process. Opening up to the ideas of others has also helped me when it comes to other areas of my life.

      It may not be necessary for you to share with others. I find it helpful to view a problem or project from angles that may not have been obvious in the beginning. Your creativity will be heightened just in the act of thinking outside the box.

      More creative energy is available to you when your life is running more smoothly. When we apply the practice of looking at situations with a broader perspective, our lives benefit by our being able to implement new ideas and solutions to situations that may have previously been problematic.

1. 1. Show Up
      Numerous successful people have made the statement that more than half—or even most—of the work is showing up. How do you avoid your own successes? Are there instances where you have sabotaged yourself in regard to your creative desires? Does one of your frequent statements include the phrase "someday?" "Someday, I'd like to learn to play guitar." Or, "Someday I'm going to write a book." I hear this so often.Fear is probably the biggest factor in the way of creative fulfillment. Have you identified any fears related to procrastination of your desired activities? Journaling without too much thought, just free writing, is helpful in exploring one's inner feelings. Just open yourself up on the paper and let your thoughts flow without censorship to see what may emerge. I have surprised myself more than once with what came pouring out.

      If this is true for you, try addressing something on your "someday" list by taking very small baby steps toward that goal. It may be too scary to select the thing that you want the most, so choose what seems to be the most attainable.

1. 1. Take Notes/Keep Records
      It doesn't matter what you want to do creatively or if you have even identified what you want to do creatively. Keeping a record of what inspires you or things you notice throughout your day that interest you are fuel for later projects. If you find yourself waiting in the dentist's office, make use of that time to thumb through magazines; if you find something of interest for later, take a photo or make notes. File these gems away for when you are ready to work with them, whether they be a recipe or a room you would like to take some decorating ideas from. If you are driving home and the clouds are particularly spectacular, take a photo in case you may want to use the clouds in a painting.I have an accordion file of photos that has been a valuable resource for me for years. I call upon for this file for use in my paintings. The folder is divided up by subject matter that I tend to use in my art work. On a day that I have the urge to paint and don't have anything in mind, I may peruse the file and find images that inspire me. Or I may find myself in the midst of a painting and feel that there is something I want to add to it, or I may wonder what kind of tree may look the best in the piece. I also collect beads, bones, shells, feathers, fabric, and anything else I find I may want to include in my collages.

      This practice is not just for visual artists. I have a musician friend who records anywhere and everywhere she goes, and has been doing so for years. She doesn't confine this to music, eitther: she recorded the street sounds of the colorful neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, including the whistle warnings of the local drug dealers. She also managed to record a "heartbeat" from the ancient stone formations in Malta. These sounds were woven into musical compositions she used in theater pieces many years after. If you like to cook, don't hesitate to ask for the recipe or at least ingredients of a dish you enjoy while eating out; don't forget to write it down!

      Keeping a journal is another handy tool for recording thoughts or ideas for later use. If you are a writer, chances are that you already make a habit of this. People you meet on an everyday basis may become characters in that next piece of writing.

1. Lose Any Competitive Edge
   Face it. There will most always be someone smarter, faster, better looking, etc., than ourselves. If we waste energy on comparing ourselves to others we may never take the first step toward our desired goals.I teach art classes, and I have had many folks come to me with stories of how their mothers, husbands, or others were artists and they didn't want to disappoint themselves with how they might not match their own ideals. These ideals were set either by these others in their lives or by their own impossibly high standards.

   I teach art-making workshops that are open to anyone. When a new student learns that they may be asked to share what they have done with the others, their fears set in and they often try to talk their way out of it. Ultimately, they learn from the others in the group.

   We have to begin somewhere, sometime. If we allow the abilities of others to stand in our way we are doing ourselves a huge disservice. When my students do put their work on the wall for others to see, they are always surprised by the positive qualities that the other students find in their art. We all have our unique talents. If you have the drive to do something and let others stand in your way, you may never discover a vision, or voice, or other skills that may be resting within.

Allow yourself to expand creatively by taking a risk. Begin today and enjoy the benefits a life with more creativity brings.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2015. All rights reserved.

My wife experienced sleep paralysis a few years ago. She related to me an experience in which she awoke in the middle of the night and couldn't move. At the same time, she said a small ball of light came in through the window and stood on her chest. She told me she felt like it had a personality, and its specific intent was to mock her. Since that time, she has closed herself off to all psychic phenomena in order to protect herself. Though this sort of thing (and others like it that she had experienced in the past) doesn't happen anymore, she's also lost all the benefits of being psychic. What can she do to feel safe again? Also, has anyone ever described an experience like this to you before? She is a Pisces.

- Thomas

Dreamchaser:

What happened to your wife is actually pretty common. While it's somewhat unusual to see something with your physical eyes, many people wake up and are unable to move, and at the same time, they sense something is nearby.

When we sleep, our souls leave our bodies. There are times when, for whatever reason, our souls and our bodies do not merge back together at the same time. Sometimes we wake up and have no idea who we are, where we are, what we are doing there, etc., and it takes a minute to blink ourselves back into physical reality. When this happens, our souls hit our bodies before our minds fully awaken.

On the other hand, sometimes our minds wake up before our souls get back into our bodies. This is what happened to your wife. When this happens, we wake up feeling paralyzed. Our minds are very aware of what is going on around us, but we can't open our eyes or move our bodies. Without our souls inside of us, we aren't animated, for our souls are what make us who and what we are.

What your wife perceived as another presence was her own soul. Her human mind was very much awake and aware that there was SOMETHING in the room with her. Because her soul was not yet fully back in her body, she was unable to correctly determine what this actually was and what it was doing. It wasn't mocking her - it was just showing itself to her. For some reason, God/ Universe/ Spirit/ whatever name you use wanted her to experience this.

Please remember that our human minds will interpret whatever we see to try to make sense of it. When I saw an alien standing in my bedroom window, my mind turned it into a man with a pointy nose, brown hair and glasses. That is NOT what I actually saw - that is what my mind WANTED me to see. My mind could fathom a man in my window, but it could NOT fathom or logically understand an alien being there.

Her soul naturally entered through what your wife said was her chest, but which was actually her solar plexus chakra. I understand her fear, for this can be an uncomfortable, unnerving, and sometimes very frightening experience.

She is a truly special and gifted woman. I am sad to hear that she has shut down her psychic senses due to fear. Her psychic ability has not left her, however; she has turned it off. She was so terrified of what she experienced that she subconsciously chose to shut down ALL her spiritual senses so that nothing like this would happen again. As nothing has left her, she can choose to open up psychically again. The choice is hers.

I wish her peace-full slumber.

*****

Astrea:

Most people experience sleep paralysis at some point in their lives. In fact, most cultures have their own terms and explanations for this sort of experience. In Norway, nightmares are called the old hag. In Cambodia, they're caused by the ghost who pushes you down.

In any case, without warning one feels a malevolent entity jump onto the chest. The victim feels an oppressive weight compressing the rib cage and often feels hands going around the throat and squeezing. The person feels he or she can't breathe. This may last from several seconds to several minutes, then the lock on the person's muscles gives way, and they're able to move again.

What seems to cause this most often is fatigue. Many college students experience sleep paralysis during finals when they're sleep deprived. It's been linked to everything from self-hypnosis to alien abductions. Without a doubt, it's one of the strangest types of nightmares.

Though very few people talk about it in industrialized societies, it's a very common experience in every culture throughout the world. Because it's different than a typical nightmare, it is no longer thought to be the same as night terrors, where the person emerges from a bad dream thrashing about, yelling and screaming, and then falls back asleep.

Most of the research confirms that sleep paralysis happens to mentally healthy people, who are thrust into a bizarre alternative world for the duration of the experience. In over 28,000 cases studied in Canada, regardless of their personal spiritual beliefs, almost every person who had the experience described feeling some kind of evil shadow or presence either coming into the room or already nearby.

Many people also report the sensation of flying, floating, or some kind of astral projection occurring at the same time. A few have even said they welcome and enjoy the experience.

Average, emotionally stable people with little or no psychic ability often experience these phenomena. Some researchers believe that a propensity for this sort of thing may be genetic, so your wife should ask the rest of her family if they've had similar things happen to them.

Sleep paralysis can be a totally terrifying experience, but it shouldn't make your wife afraid to go to sleep, especially if this happened years ago. If she's still afraid of the experience, it sounds to me like she could use some professional therapy to get over this event.

I recommend you seek out researchers at a nearby university who are doing sleep studies, and find out if she can enroll in one of the many thousands of programs devoted to studying different types of REM sleep.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.