Susanne West's March Newsletter: 6 KEYS TO UNLOCK YOUR CREATIVITY

Be true to yourself. What is stirring deep in your soul that wants to be expressed? Imagine putting all the 'shoulds' and reasons you can't follow your passion into a box for now and ask your soul, "How shall I express my creativity? Where will I find my joy and aliveness?" Jot down whatever comes to you. Then decide to take the next step.
Set a clear intention. In declaring an intention, you are moving your idea from the background to the foreground of your life. Through this conscious choice you are engaging your will to align with your vision. A clear intention is very powerful; it will set your plan into motion. Renew your intention often. It will help you stay on track and keep creative expression as a priority in your life.
Take risks. The egoic mind will try to convince you that danger awaits if you rock the boat in your life. The ego thrives on predictability and safety, on preserving the status quo. Your soul wants you to fly, though - to be Big and Colorful, perhaps Wild and Weird. Your soul knows you will become empowered if you take chances and break free of outworn habits and patterns. Say No! to the voice that would have you stay in your comfort zone and Yes! to the voice that encourages you to be all that you can be.
Allow for fear and uncertainty. There's nothing to fear about fear. It is natural. When you mobilize creativity, you are stepping away from the familiar and into the unknown. You have become willing to let go of control and not be constrained by the confines of your linear mind. In addition to that being exciting, it can also be unnerving. Let the fear be present; acknowledge it rather than making it wrong and move ahead with your project. Imagine giving your fear a chair to sit on right outside your door and give it something to do while you immerse yourself in your creativity. By doing that, you're respecting its presence, but not letting it stifle your creative process.
Embrace the unknown. Venturing into the unknown is at the heart of creativity. We like to know what's going on, what's next, what the outcome will be. I'm writing a book and fairly regularly come up to the edge of uncertainty. How shall I proceed? What shall I do next? What's needed in this section? I fret and worry, scrambling about in my mind to figure out what to DO. Then I remember that it's not about doing in that moment. I stop listening to my anxious mind and check in with my intuition. I become quiet and simply ask, "What is right action for me now?" I often hear that I need to take a break and do something different, like go for a walk. Sometimes my sense is that I just need to be patient and sit with the discomfort of 'not knowing' until the next step presents itself naturally. That's not necessarily what I want to hear, but the creative process, like our soul, doesn't work in service of the ego.
See your mistakes as teachers. Perfectionism is a powerful saboteur of creativity and is at the root of many creative blocks. Like fear, mistakes are inevitable and are a natural part of the creative process, which involves experimentation and a lot of trial and error. We learn from mistakes; they often lead us to new ideas and possibilities. As James Joyce said, "Mistakes are the portals of discovery."