Don’t wait for permission to create

This week I’ve been rereading Danny Gregory’s excellent book, The Creative License. Its message, that you don’t need to wait for someone to give you permission to be creative, is one that it strikes me could do with being repeated. A lot.

Danny makes the point that most people aren’t taught how to be creative. Creativity is something we tend to think people are either born with or not. He goes on to point out how absurd it would be if we felt the same way about something like driving. How bizarre it would be if we said we’ll only encourage children to drive if they showed some aptitude for driving. No one would be taught to drive as a matter of course. If you had no apparent natural flare then you’d just have to stand by and watch the “natural” drivers drive!

I was recently having breakfast with a good friend, a scientist, who clearly was never encouraged to be creative. He watches what I do with a bemused look on his face, often trying to be encouraging, but really not “getting” what I do (or seeing any value in it). I have a strong feeling that he would secretly like to be more creative, but doesn’t know how to start. To him and everyone else like him I’d like to say, just do it. Don’t wait for someone to tell you you’re creative so that you have permission to explore your creative side. Just do something creative. Here are some ideas for how to start:

1. Sing (loudly) in the car, even if you think you’re tone deaf.
2. Draw the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning and don’t care how the drawing turns out.
3. Visit a gallery or museum you’ve never been too.
4. Take an acting class.
5. Go to the theatre.
6. Beg, borrow or buy a copy of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and work through it.
7. Buy yourself a box of paints or coloured pens and a colouring book and have FUN with them.
8. Dance.
9. Write a bad poem.
10. Treat yourself to a piece of clothing you normally wouldn’t buy yourself (but secretly want).
11. One day this week, eat your dessert before your main course!.
12. Bake a cake and decorate it with coloured icing (and hold a tea party)