At your core, you are boundlessly creative. The creative force is the life force that streams through your being.  Tapping into this effervescent stream is a way to restore your aliveness and awaken your passion for life.  When you move into this current, you can express these energies in the form of paintings, essays, songs, or, perhaps, new possibilities for solving problems.  You may develop an innovative presentation or turn a nondescript backyard into a magical garden. You become vital and affirmative towards life, for you are bringing something new into being. In awakening to creativity, you awaken to the life within and all around you.

Here are some questions to help you explore your relationship to creativity.  You can use this self-reflective exercise as a tool to help you take your next steps.

1. What does creativity mean to you?  What are your beliefs about creativity?
2. What messages did you receive from childhood through adolescence from family members, peers, teachers, and any others about creativity and, in particular, about your creativity?  Take time to reflect on this question, letting your memory take you back through the years.  Particular people or events may come into your awareness.  Jot down everything that comes to you.
3. Who encouraged your creativity?  What did this person or people convey to you?
4. Who discouraged your creativity?  What did this person or people convey to you?
5. What are your creative dreams?
6. What are your creative fears?
7. Who are your creative heroes and heroines?  What specifically do you admire about these people?  Assuming it was possible that each one of these people was expressing qualities that are potentials within you, what are these potentials?
8. What beginning steps can you take to develop these potentials in yourself?
9. What behaviors are keeping you from having time for creative activities, for example, watching a lot of TV or playing computer games?  Write about each of these and see if you are ready and willing to commit to spending a little less time with one of these behaviors.
10. How might the quality of my life be enhanced if I include more time for creative expression?
11. Complete the following sentences, taking five minutes for each one:

What I would love to do is _________________________________________________________

What's keeping me from _________________________________ is ________________________________

What I can do to overcome this obstacle is _________________________________________________________

I commit to _________________________________________________________

My next step is _________________________________________________________

I will know that I've achieved my goal when _________________________________________________________

After you have responded to these questions and know or sense that you'd like to devote more time and energy to your creativity, set a clear intention.  In declaring an intention, you are moving your idea from the background to the foreground of your awareness.  By making this conscious choice you are engaging your will to align with your vision.  You are setting your plan into motion.  Review and renew your intention often.  Doing that will help you stay on track and keep creative expression as a priority in your life.