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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.

I get the feeling that many of my relationship issues with the opposite sex have their roots in past life experiences. For example, it's odd how the men I get involved with are almost always Asian or from an Asian culture. I've found myself drawn to those cultures in other ways too, even though there's nothing from my childhood or background in this life that would create this pattern. I'm wondering what this may mean, and what I'm supposed to do in order to move on to a fresh level of experience. It feels like I'm stuck in old patterns and connections. I've felt this way since my early 20s, and I'm now in my late 30s. I'm a Gemini.

- Chris

Dreamchaser:

I imagine everyone you might speak to about this subject would have a slightly different perspective or viewpoint on the matter, and of course, no one can say for sure.

I personally think our interpretation of all we see and experience is colored by our own soul's perspective. Just like you and I could look at the same person and notice two completely different things, and therefore describe that person somewhat differently, our souls view our experiences in various lifetimes differently.

My own soul's understanding is that we are a culmination of everything we ever experience. We carry past life information forward with us, and in this way, we carve out certain niches for ourselves.

We will often go to a place we have never been and find that it feels very familiar and comfortable, or on the flip side, familiar and uncomfortable. We may eat something we have never had and on some level remember that we've eaten it before. I believe the same goes for our interactions with other people.

For example, most people have a certain type that they are attracted to. My own type is a tall, dark man. I don't know why - I just have always been drawn to those types of men.

I am REALLY dating myself with this example, but when all my friends liked Hutch, I liked Starsky. Just like you, I can see no logical reason why this is the type of man I'm drawn to.

I'm betting that your love life problems have nothing to do with your type, but instead are rooted in the quality of men you have gotten involved with. You don't really want to start dating Scandinavian blondes - you just want to attract a higher quality of relationship experience.

I believe you need to look at yourself and fix some inner issues before you can fix your outer experience. With this in mind, I suggest you buy a book called One Day My Soul Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant. It offers a 40-day process that I feel will help you a great deal.

At first you may not understand why I steered you towards that book. The back cover won't sound like something you need, but I urge you to give it a try. You have nothing to lose. I also highly recommend this book to everyone reading this, for I believe it offers a soul-filling experience regardless of one's particular problem or goal.

After you finish that 40-day process, you will have a new perspective on yourself, and will view life with new eyes. Then I think you'll make better choices about what you really want in love.

Of course, you ARE drawn towards Asian men because you have been Asian in past lives, and you enjoyed those lives - in fact, one in particular was your happiest life so far.

The important thing to realize now is that you still have time to make this life even better than that one.

I wish you awareness of what you really want.

*****

Astrea:

Being drawn to another time, place or culture can be strongly influenced by past life experiences, experiences in the past in this life, or simply personal taste.

When the same pattern repeats over and over without any explanation for it from this lifetime, chances are good that past lives are influencing you.

Even though we don't usually consciously remember where we were or who we were with in other lifetimes, there are parts of those lives that we carry from incarnation to incarnation, and those energies can strongly influence our personal preferences.

For instance, small children who don't care for sweets might have been diabetic in another life, while a person who suffered from a long-time illness in the incarnation immediately before this one might have an aversion to seeing doctors, and do whatever they can to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Violent deaths often cause people to avoid things in this life that they embraced in the last one, though the opposite can also be true.

My best friend was trampled to death by horses in several previous incarnations, going all the way back to the Roman Circus, but that doesn't stop her from operating one of the largest equine rescues in the country.

Just as things in our other incarnations can cause us to avoid certain experiences, people, places, or things, we can also be drawn to things we loved in other lifetimes, just like we're drawn toward people we've known and loved well before. If I was doing a past life reading for you, and you told me up front that you were drawn to all things Asian, I would begin to look for you in other lifetimes in Asia.

I usually begin by asking a person what her favorite colors are and why she likes them. Then I ask her to see a door. We continue by having her describe the shape and color of the door, what it's made of, the color it's painted, what the hinges are like, etc., and by the time she's finished with that, she's ready to open that door and step into memories of another incarnation.

Some people have one door, and some people have many. Most people with many lifetimes will open that first door to see a series of other doors, each different but connected in some way. Finding out what is behind each door isn't always fun or easy, but it can be very enlightening.

If you want to know more about your Asian incarnations, try looking for your own doors during meditation or other quiet times. Many people say that right before they fall asleep is a good time to do that.

Don't be afraid to walk through those doors either. Remember, what hurt you before can NOT hurt you now; it will just lead you to more knowledge of who you are and have been in other times.

You may discover a whole other life in which you lived, loved and delighted in things you've never even seen in this life.

I see a trip to China in your future - or is it in your past?

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.