Enhancing Your Creativity

Today I heard a story about a guy who is extremely creative. He once applied for a job at a floristry supply house and only lasted a couple of hours, because he thought it was a job whereby "he could use his creativity to make floral arrangements!" Well the job was anything but a creative one! It was a production line position whereby the labourers were to put into packages predetermined amounts & types of flowers.
I can happily report the man is now employed somewhere else where he can use his own creativity. This story spurred me onto thinking about the things that one would need to enhance their own creativity. So here are my musing upon the subject.
Ingredients to enhance one's own creativity are;
a) by practise, "the doing" I call it, the experimenting and the time necessary to come up with something that is new.
b) by believing in one's self and what one produces. The non judgemental censorship of self and one's own creations. Stop being your own policeman or woman.
c) be kind to self and buy the necessary supplies that you need.
d) There is an old proverb that goes like this, " You are behaving unwisely when you compare yourself to others", and this I believe has some real merit since we are unique individuals that there will never be another of, and if you compare yourself to someone else there will always be someone better and/or someone who is not as good as you. Why not allow yourself the freedom to contribute to this world since you are the only person on this earth who can do it exactly YOUR WAY!
e)surround yourself with creative people. It seems creativity can be enhanced that way. This helps to prime the pump!
f)place yourself in a supportive environment with people who believe in you. We all need encouragement of some type or other. We are not islands unto ourselves, so it is especially important who you decide to place around you.
g) by looking at creative books, magazines, tv shows, the internet etc. Look at what others have done to get your own ideas. I don't recommend copying someone else's work! This does you an injustice and the one you have stolen from an injustice too! Be YOU don't be someone else.
h)listen to music that stimulates your creativity. This has got to be music that you really enjoy listening to.
h)use your imagination and exercises that enhance your imagination. Exercises in visualization are well worth looking into.
i) believe in a higher power that sets you free to be who you really are! This means you must live a life that has less rules and more of a relationship with this power who is the source of all creativity. If you can't quite believe in a higher power take a walk outside and see the variety of flowers and trees that you can find. It didn't all happen just by accident.
j)have passion about something with-in yourself to create something outside yourself.

Now having said all of that I am sure there are other things that could be written on this subject, and if you wish to submit any items please let me know! This is a work in progress...

The Good, the bad and the down right ugly

Tonight I heard it said that "goats have to be herded & driven with whips whilst sheep hear and follow after the voice of their Shepherd/Master". Which one are you might I ask? And for myself I can truthfully say that I must be a combination of the two. I'm all for listening and following someone else's advice that I deem to be good, but I stray away if I detect a half truth or a deceptively proud spirit. For me there are two types of wisdom; One that's from above, and one that's from below. The wisdom from above produces a sense of peace inwardly whilst the other does not. And a tell tale sign of which wisdom you are following will be the end results which I refer to as "the fruits".
Hmm now those "fruits" could very well work out to be bankruptcy for instance whereby every employee of a business follows blindly down the same road without questioning the wisdom of those at the top! For the US they have been there and done that and now many people far and wide are having to suffer as a result.