The subject of play came to mind today. I don’t do enough of it,even when I’m in a productive mode. I end up being too serious around my work. I need to listen to this entry as much as you do.

PERFECT: Play is perfect. I don’t mean that I must play perfectly. I don’t mean that I must score perfectly or write inside all of the lines. I don’t even mean that I need to be enthusiastic or in a good mood about playing when I let myself play. Perfect means that play is very healthy. Play, without pressure, is a great place to be creative. It’s a place where I can explore my creativity without stopping or I can stop and work on several different explorations one after another. If I have stations for play, by that I mean centers, then I can move from one activity, to another to the another, until I’m finished playing with each one. Usually play has an end, but not necessarily. If there is a place where I can keep the project that I’m working on, then I may not finish the project until the next session. I also may be creating a project with many parts, which means that I might finish one part, put it away and then start another part until the total is ready to be assembled. It’s important to be flexible when you are participating in a play session.

LAZINESS: I don’t mean being slowing down your productivity. What I am saying is that being lazy or flexible about the time that you spend on your project. Especially being flexible about the ideas you bring into being. “Thinking outside of the box” is the more conventional way of explaining this. The image I have is of a very flexible rubber band, that can be bent in all different directions without breaking. I can stretch my idea to the very end of what I think it should look like. I can shrink the same idea to a very small space and still bring something into being from it. At some point, creativity requires, that I jump, slither, move, stretch or whatever it takes to move outside the lines. I don’t have to stay outside them. I just need to jump out and explore long enough to infuse some new energy into my ideas. I need to be able to see my idea from at least one other perspective. I can always learn something. I may not even use the information, but having completed a brief exploration, stretches my creative muscles and teaches me to think past my normal and comfortable creative boundaries.

AUTHORIZE: It’s important that you give yourself permission to play. It’s amazing to me how much I don’t want to let myself play sometimes. I have a major conversation going on between the self that wants to be creative and the self that just wants to play. The creative self feels very threatened when I’m not being ’serious’ about creating jewelry or writing an article. The playful self becomes bored with the whole idea and starts doodling and other small creative acts, that drive the serious part of me nuts. It’s the only way that the playful side can express what she wants to do. It takes awhile for the two to agree that play indeed is a good idea, it really depends on the situation. Anyway, that gives you an idea of my internal struggle. The idea is to give both facets of my creativity a chance to express themselves. Since I’m more serious, I especially need to give myself extra time to play. I also need to reassure my serious side, that playing will really help us create some new and wonderful stuff. If we continue to be so serious, all we will end up is with a headache and no energy to create new work. My serious side is always worrying about not being creative enough, so that usually stops her complaining in her tracks. Giving myself permission takes practice. I may need to work with myself in short sessions before expecting myself to play for longer periods of time. It all depends on how I feel about playing. I tend to play better when I am around other artists, then when I’m by myself. I like having some company, to be silly, to bounce off ideas and to watch what other artists’ are doing. However, when I create my jewelry, I prefer to work alone, so I guess I’m fairly flexible about ‘playing’. I would encourage you to experiment with giving yourself permission to play with different periods of time and in different creative situations.

YES: Saying yes to your creativity isn’t necessarily the same as giving yourself permission. Saying yes, is the primary motivation for playing and being creative. When I say yes, I give myself room and freedom to produce. I give myself room to stretch and push my boundaries. I find artists’ to play with or I decide to create some new pieces or articles on my own. Finally saying yes, allows me to decide if I will permit myself to create or not. I don’t like just ‘doing’ my creativity without some reason for it. I like having an underlying principle to guide me. That doesn’t mean that I won’t struggle with my creativity or have a bad day. It doesn’t mean that I will get along with my artists’ friends when we play together. It doesn’t even mean that I will complete my goal of completing a certain number of finished pieces in a work session. Saying yes, gives me guidance. Saying yes reminds me that I have a reason for creating, play and stretching. It is easier for me to have a ‘why’ for what I do, then just to ‘do something’ just because I’m ordered to do it. I think that that is one reason why I don’t play as much as I could, because I have to find some reason to ‘justify’ what I’m doing. I know artists’ that don’t need to do that. I would love to experience that freedom more often. It is a goal that I’m working toward as I continue to create. Saying ‘yes’ to life in general is a wise, open and usually good response to life circumstances that I try to emulate as an artist and a person.

Have a playful and creative week!

Tags: Articles - Creativity Coaching //