Creative challenge

I wonder if I’ve always had as much creativity in my life as I find these days, or if I’m merely more focused. I’ve been trying to take notice of all things and thoughts creative as they occur, no matter how small they might be; So small that normally I would account them for nothing more than fleeting, random thoughts.

Seeing bright colors, cooking an interesting dish, and sitting in a book store to read whatever catches my eye or tugs at my interests have all seem to trigger notions of creativity. I’m very visually-oriented and inclined to be interested to these types, but I think somewhere beneath my simple interests rests some deeper connection.

I enjoy getting to know myself better and doing things that fit me. Who doesn’t? Eight of my averaged forty hours of productivity this week were spent focused on seeing and doing things differently in my job search process through a Creative Job Search workshop. Brainstorming, constructive feedback and feeding off others’ thoughts all helped me to further develop my ideas and opinions of myself, learn new ways for figuring out my true colors and identify my skills and strengths for potential job positions.

One of the books I picked up while at Barnes & Nobles, entitled “Do What You Are” said “We think it’s safe to say that usually most extroverts don’t really go to the library to study. They go there to be with other people.” Laughing, I certainly found myself identifying with this. The book connects Myers-Briggs personality-types to career satisfaction necessities for each type, associated weaknesses and industry/careers to explore. Although I already knew my personality-type, I’m excited to explore more options, prevent limiting myself. This feels creative to me.

Almost every day this past week I tried to challenge myself to listen to a radio station that I’d never listen to regularly. I already knew I didn’t like the station I picked, couldn’t stand the DJ’s and wasn’t inclined to the music, but I went about it objectively and tried to open my mind. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do it. It wasn’t the music as much as the DJ’s that I couldn’t come to appreciate. I don’t know if I learned much from this other than that if I there are options in life (or at least radio stations), it’s easy and almost subconsciously impossible for me to choose something that I don’t naturally enjoy. Or, maybe I gave up to easily.


Creative things to work on…

Learning to cook/bake new things…paint canvases…research new job profiles I haven’t looked at before…allow more time for thinking – less for doing…try brain-stretching strategies from creative process class and books 