There was fear and uncertainty when I started this blog. I’d never written for a larger audience than my class and their parents. I wondered if I would run out of ideas. Surprise! I’m discovering that the more I write, the more I have to write.
Creativity Grows The More You Use It.
It turns out that writing begets more writing. It makes sense. New skills become more comfortable the more you use them. But what I didn’t expect is the flow of ideas. There really is no end to them. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have,” explained celebrated writer Maya Angelou. I didn’t really believe that it applied to me, until I watched it happen.
As I explore a variety of creative activities in my retirement from writing to visual arts to fibre arts, I’m seeing that each project leads to another one. It’s not a one-and-done situation. It’s not a list of projects that I check off one by one. It’s an adventure! This is exciting because it’s a path I can keep exploring without worrying about it petering out.
Science of Creativity
There is science to back up my experiences with creativity. It turns out that retirement has some of the key elements needed to foster creativity: a good mood (enough sleep, less stress, regular exercise, time to be more mindful), stretches of “non-time” without a schedule, and more solitude.*
Creativity Needs No Deadline
Not having a deadline to worry about can be tricky if you need external pressure to get something done. However, I’ve found that if I’m not progressing on a project, it has less to do with not having a deadline and more to do with needing time to solve a specific problem that I’m having with the project. I usually put the project aside for a day or two and work on something else. Like the tip-of-the-tongue phenomena, the solution will present itself when I stop thinking about it consciously. A creative activity energizes me (natural motivation) and no deadline would do that.
What creative pursuits energize you?
- Click here to read more: https://ideas.ted.com/3-science-based-strategies-to-increase-your-creativity/
Retired, and now what? 