The Creative Process of Journaling- Start now to expand your mind.

The Creative Process of Journaling

Are you still grappling to increase your creative potential? Do you think creativity involves a mystical state of mind attained only by a blessed few? I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to drink exotic herbal teas or meditate for 8 hours like the monks. Labeling the creative mind as mystical and putting it up on an unattainable pedestal does no good. In fact, it’s a myth that you need to bust at the earliest! According to Forbes, Creativity is the skill of the future! Today I’m going to talk about a very simple practice that can open the doors of creativity in your mind. The simple practice of journaling. Transferring your thoughts into words. The purpose behind journaling is not only writing thoughts and feelings in a book. It’s a journey towards an unknown destination. A journey of self discovery.

A Creative Process as Profound as Meditation

Journaling is more like meditation. Everyone knows what to do and yet, can’t get themselves to do it! When you want to meditate, you find a quiet place, sit down, close your eyes and focus on your breath, but how many of us actually do it the first time? Whereas in journaling, you find a quiet place, get out a book& pen and start writing. Sounds easy, isn’t it? But how many of us can actually get words onto paper at will? What’s interesting is, in meditation the thoughts don’t go away and in journaling the right thoughts don’t come to us!! Yet both are powerful methods to connect with ourselves and get our creative juices flowing. Without digressing, let’s get into the topic for today, Journaling.
Journaling is still one of the easiest and profound ways to open the gates of creativity for anyone! Even kids! Contrary to what most people think, You don’t have to be a skillful writer to write down your thoughts. It has nothing to do with vocabulary, grammar, or having a superior command in a certain language. Nor do you have to confine it to only words. Pictures, symbols or anything that gives some kind of meaning to your thoughts is a great way to unleash your creative abilities. It is all about giving meaning and form to abstract thoughts. This is where it gets interesting! When we consistently get our thoughts on paper, we unknowingly tap into emotions and ideas that are volatile and sometimes not easy to comprehend unless given a form.

Every Creative process needs Discipline

When I first started journaling, I was looking for an outlet to clear out stalled emotions. Emotions that were no longer serving me. My intention was to process the thoughts and emotions that were gnawing my insides away like a termite. An urgent need to make space for balance and calm nudged me to start journaling. I had started and stopped several times before, waiting for my muse to magically transmute my thoughts into the perfect words. Well, not this time. I knew what I had to do and yet, a book and pen were somehow not enough. Nor were my uncomfortable emotions enough motivation to start this wonderful practice! This is where you bring in your resolve and discipline. Anyone who has achieved anything in life will tell you, It is the first step that is difficult, but once you start, the rest falls into place.
Journaling is a unique creative process. It serves different purposes to different people. Today we’re going to explore some simple ways we can practice journaling and open the door of creativity and innovation. Something you never thought existed.

Your Unique Creative Process

Freestyle-

This type of journaling is exactly what the term freestyle means. Write without a plan or structure. So pull out a notebook for this specific purpose, or a word doc and start writing or typing whatever comes to mind. Now the main idea here is to not over think your thoughts or judge them for what they are. Simply pour in whatever thoughts come to mind without putting any kind of filter on it. For God’s sake, don’t let your inner editor out! Freestyle journaling is simply a brain dump exercise. A peep into the recesses of your mind.

Gratitude-

A gratitude journal is for people focusing or gratitude. If you intend to shift your perspective to a more positive and cheerful outlook, then this is a great way to start. Write down whatever you are grateful for. The difference between thinking about gratitude and writing it is, that writing gives our mind a much more solid proof and makes it more real.

Appreciation-

This kind of journaling is to boost your self-confidence and to train the mind to appreciate yourself and others. To look for only good. Take out a journal and start writing out everything that you appreciate in yourself and others. This isn’t about vanity or pride, but a genuine effort to pat yourself for the person you’ve become. Sometimes we don’t realize our own worth. An appreciation journal can help with just that.

Clearing or therapy-

The last one I’m going to talk about today is journaling to clear out unwanted thoughts and emotions. Now, When you write to clear your mind, it is not advisable to go back and read through the entries of your clearing journal. This is to release negative emotions and thoughts that might be hindering you. Write it, release it and forget it. Here’s a quick read from The University of Rochester on the topic.

The Creative process of YOU!

There are many other ways to journal. Start with whatever your heart desires. With time, the magic begins to happen. You gain clarity and tap into ideas and thoughts that can lead you to wonderful journeys of self discovery and creativity. If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, check out my previous post on using your non-dominant hand to journal! So what is your journaling story? Which one is your favorite kind? I’d love to know in the comments below. Happy journaling!

It’s all in your hands

Sometimes if you want to see a change for the better, you have to take things into your own hands. -Clint Eastwood
 

A Mother’s Hand

I know the blogosphere has been flooded with Mother’s day posts and rightly so. Whatever we do or say about our mothers  and our roles as mothers is never enough. I’ve been a little tied up the last few days and so couldn’t get my post out in time, but any day is a good day to honor mothers ! 🙂 So even though the focus of my blog is Creativity, today I decided to wrap my post around the spirit of motherhood and the lady who started it all in my life, Yes my very own Mother. No mother has ever gone to a school to learn how to raise her children and every mother has her own creative ways of dealing with her own little angels ( or devils 🙂 ) . My mother is quite exceptionally creative ,be it her hobbies or her persona. A rule breaker and a trend setter.

We all can agree that creativity is stifled in an environment of ‘Right ,Wrong, Yes, No , Should ,Should Not ‘ and numerous other similar rules that aspires to make a clone out of us. Of course, code of conducts are  important guidance systems to ensure a sense of security and trust but when it comes to creativity, the best gift we can give our children is Freedom. Freedom to make mistakes , freedom to be messy , freedom to be different and freedom to explore the heights of their true self.

Isn’t Creativity essentially more about the process than the end result? The minute  a slight hint of anxiety over the end result creeps in, it instantly destroys the joy of creation. As mothers ,we all tend to expect the best out of our children, and unknowingly we pass on a vibe of expectation that our kids promptly pick up. The pressure of living up to their parents dreams can crush quite a many budding creators. So this Mother’s day , I remind myself of one of the most important lesson my mother modeled during my growing up years, the freedom to be completely me.

I was free to explore ,get hurt and learn my own lessons yet she was always there to guide me when I needed it. As much as I try to give the gift of freedom to my boys, I am yet to match up to the level of total faith and confidence that my mother had in me. All I know is that I am not a perfectionist and I can bear the fact that my house is nowhere close to looking like a museum. I don’t expect my boys to color within the lines or follow the instructions on the manual. I can most certainly live with the mess after my boys help me out with dinner or the mountain of books, after they are suddenly in a mood to explore every book on the bookshelf. It’s totally okay to be loud, make unearthly animal sounds and act silly in our house.

Today I would like to touch upon just one binding, that might do us well if given up, to spike up the creativity in our children or even us! And that is to explore the non dominant hand. We all have a dominant hand that we use to write, draw, eat, open doors etc.. And the non dominant hand or opposite hand playing a supporting role. It doesn’t matter if you are right-handed or left-handed, the non dominant hand can get you in touch with your creative side. It has been proven that when you use your dominant hand, one hemisphere of the brain is activated ,whereas the non dominant hand activates both the hemispheres! Leading to surprisingly creative ideas or out of the box thinking. The dominant hand is linked to the logical, analytical part of the brain while the non dominant hand is connected to the creative and intuitive part. So writing or drawing with the non dominant hand will activate and strengthen those parts of the brain that are not used on a daily basis.

 

A man paints with his brains and not with his hands . – Michelangelo

The non-dominant hand

Giving kids the freedom to use either or their non dominant hand  while they draw , do a fun art project or write a story  might be a great way to start. Neatness or perfection is not the key.The process is. It sure may take some time getting used to using the opposite hand and the first few attempts might produce totally undecipherable masterpieces!! 🙂 but with patience and practice it will definitely get better. So  just break the rules and try this easy technique to activate a few extra brain neurons when stumped for ideas or to generally boost up  creative thinking skills. Whatever it is, don’t forget to have fun!!

Few ideas to get started .

1. Start with teaching your opposite hand to write your name.
2. Draw basic shapes or stick figures.
3. Have a spontaneous dialog between both hands in writing. Don’t think too much! Go with whatever comes to your mind first.
4. Try doing other normal routine activities with your opposite hand like pouring water, opening doors etc…
5. Finger–paint using your non dominant hand.

You can find more information about the non dominant hand here  and  here  .I hope your non dominant hands open up wonderful creative thinking avenues  and ,my love to all the amazing moms out there ,who tirelessly lend a helping hand to put a smile on their little miracle’s face and finally, thank you mom for your wonderful hands that are always a blessing above my head.

 

Featured image courtesy: pixabay