Let's bust the myth of "I am not creative"!

Are you convinced that you are not creative? It's a lie that has no basis in reality. What does it even mean "to be creative"?

VERY often people are saying to me with a big sigh and deep longing in their eyes and in their voice: "I wish I could create! But I am not creative."

That tears on my heart. It is a myth that has been perpetuated - without any evidence.
It has created so much unnecessary suffering! And deprives so many of us of the natural joy that we are born with.

We are all creative.

Did you just think: "What??? But I KNOW I am not creative!"

But you ARE creative! Just go and watch kids play.
Unless someone prevented you from it, you did the same thing as a child.
They freely express themselves in all kinds of creative ways. They dance, sing, smear paints on paper, doodle, color, play with sticks and stones.

Have you seen how they are "lost" in what they are doing?
When they dance and sing, they use their whole body for it.
When they paint, doodle etc., they become still.
You can watch a flow of energy from their heart into their body and into their expressions.

You may be protesting: "Well - but that's not being creative. They are just playing. That's what kids do".
EXACTLY! Playing IS being creative. They use what they have and fully go for it.

So many of us equate "being creative" with producing stunning RESULTS.

We compare ourselves to “artists” who we admire and we’ve put on pedestals.
That is backwards.
It stems from misguided ideas of what it means to be creative.

Being creative is a life force. It is natural. We are born with it.

You feel it as that burning and yearning in the heart, when you don't do anything creative. Or when you admire others for being creative and you wished you could do that too. BUT - at some point in your life's journey you internalized other people's voices and started believing that you are not creative.

You are in charge of yourself and your creativity. Let it roar with joy.
Take out a pen and paper and start doodling all over it, sing with your voice and your arms, dance
like nobody is watching, squirt paint on paper and smudge it with your hands.
Play for the pure joy of it.

THAT is being creative.

At one point I argued with Diane, a lawyer friend who was convinced that she was not creative, for 1.5 hours. Being well versed in arguing, she made some concessions, but it didn't change her belief.

So we went to my studio. I showed her one of my Fast and Fabulous methods. 5 minutes later she painted her stained T-shirt into an art shirt. Followed by cutting a bed sheet into the Drama vest with my no-seam pattern and turned it into a stunning art piece. (You can see it below - it's the second photo.)

The permission to "just play" side-stepped Diane's inner critic and she let loose!

Try it for yourself!
Most of us simply need the permission to PLAY. To experiment, to be messy, to have fun.
Without the expectation of a fabulous art piece hindering our creative forces.

The first vest below is made from a sarong. The second one is the Drama vest that Diane painted.
It is just a rectangle with 2 holes. You can get FREE videos, the pattern and different ways to wear it HERE.

Then there are those of us who create a lot, even make our living with creative things - and still believe that we are not creative.

I was one of them. Despite having been very successful in my life as a full time artist and wearable art designer since 1987, and loving what I have been doing, I never believed that I was creative - until recent years.

An artist who I admire, held a trunk show for my wearable art clothing. I admired her fantastic art and said: "You are so creative! It's amazing. I love what I do, and I love the transformations that women have in my clothes. But I am not creative."
Whoa! Did she lay into me!

It made me realize that what I do is so easy and natural for me, that I always thought any kid can do what I do. Although I had been totally surprised that, in different fiber artist groups, that nobody could figure out how I do my clothes. And they thought that my techniques must be pretty complicated and involved to achieve such stunning designs. The opposite is true. They are fun, playful, simple and proven to create high-end results.

It is the same for so many of us who believe that they are not creative.
And it was the same for my lawyer friend. She had painted a cup that was fabulous and totally unique. How she did it was natural for her. But it didn't fit her idea of what it means "to be creative".

Having ideas about what "being creative" should look like and comparing yourself to artists you admire, are the 2 biggest traps for blocking yourself from creating freely and with abandon, in YOUR awesome way that only you can do.

Seeing so many people with that unfulfilled, natural yearning in their eyes, I am passionate about inspiring and guiding you to let your inner designer and creative roar with joy.

To make it easy for you to let loose and enjoy your creativity, I made several free things available.
They include painting a shirt, shawl, tote bag or anything else with one of the Fast and Fabulous methods within minutes.
Or turn a shawl into a fabulous poncho top with a 14" seam. And wear it 6 different ways.
Or create art digitally within minutes.
And more.

Check it out HERE.
Start playing like a kid and set the joy in your heart free.

Let me know your thoughts, what inspires you, what you would like help with HERE.

If you want to explore creating for the pure joy of it, check out the Creative Joy Course.
It's a brand new concept where we create with the most simple methods, play like children do, cultivate delicious inner calm and joy - and in the process get art, without ever trying to create art.
Absolutely NO talent, NO special tools required.

I wish you beautiful creative times - so that, regardless of circumstances, you feel joyful and balanced on the inside.

Monika Astara

Categories: : what does "being creative" mean?