2 Live Inspired

Welcome back to my blog. It's great to see you again. Please leave me a comment and fill out the form on the right so you can gain access to all of my videos, posts and inspiring tips for your personal development & online success!"Thanks for visiting!"

What have you got to lose?

Here’s The Story:
Life is a creative process. Even a casual glance at the natural world proclaims that fact, loud and
clear. It’s kind of funny though how things work. Until you are in touch with your own creativity,
your life has a tendency to feel kind of…well….

Ordinary.

It’s hard to get yourself motivated in the morning. And at the end of the day?…
It’s much easier to zone out as you slump into the depths of the couch in front

of the TV every evening than to launch into a project that would bring you a

feeling of deep personal fulfillment.

What If You Could Change That?

Well, you can. Once you are connected with your creativity, once that spark,
no (matter how smallit might be at first) takes over and really wakes you up, a

life takes on a whole new sense of adventure.

It’s been proven time after time. All the most successful people in the world
(and throughout history, for that matter) will attest to this one certainty —–

If YOU want to experience true success in your life, in your relationships and

in your business ventures, tapping into your creativity is one of the most important,

but possibly overlooked, things you need to be doing.

And I am NOT talking about becoming an “artist” not am I directing this specifically

to artists (although all you artists are welcome guests too). No, I’m talking to you,

WHOEVER you are and to the person sitting next to you on the bus or
jostling past you on the city street or hiking with you up the trail.

After weeks (months!) of trying to figure out what value I had that anyone else would

care about,  I’ve finally realized that I had the answer inside of me all along…wow,

just like “they” said it was! Yes, once I finally moved beyond the closed door of self-doubt

and opened the windows of self-confidence
I was able to observe that my true purpose with this blog would be to inspire YOU to locate,

connect with and stay tuned-in your own highest, most inspired, most creative self.

It’s that simple!

There are endless resources that will help me do this and I am so excited to share them

all with you that I’ve hardly been able to sleep for the past few nights.

But first, since you don’t know me or anything about me, I’m thinking you migh
appreciate a little background information, so that you’ll know that I didn’t
just pick up a book about creativity yesterday and decide to start talking about it
like knew something special. It is special, but also, I do have a life-time of relevant experience.

I’ll try to be brief. If you want more information about me, I’ll soon be posting my story
in the Buff’s Story section of this blog.

I am just so excited to write about something that might actually be of use to you that I have

decided to put off writing more about myself until later on.

How Does One Find Creativity, Nurture It And Encourage It To Grow?

In this article and the next one (or more), I’m going to
share with you a few simple techniques to help you reconnect,
and stay connected, with that vital, juicy part of yourself.
Like anything worth having, it takes some effort, some will,
and some action. But I know you’ve got it in you and if you see
the value and decide you want it, you can tap into
your own creative genius.

As Pablo Picasso famously remarked:
Every child is an artist. The problem is
how to remain an artist once we grow up.

What IS Creativity?

Creativity is that magical spark that lights your fire.
It’s what transforms you into the passionate, inspired
master of your own destiny. And it’s not just for people
who make their living making art. It’s for everyone, everywhere.

I believe that we all carry a “creativity gene” in our DNA     

and that it is intimately linked to our happiness and our
sense of fulfillment. It doesn’t matter what you are doing
with your life or what kind of job you have (or don’t have).
Unless and until you are fulfilling your creative spirit, you
will be susceptible to the feelings of being stuck, bored,
lethargic, depressed. But it doesn’t have to stay that way!

I’m talking from experience here. I have not always felt at
my most creative. In part 2 of this series, I’ll be sharing
more of my personal history that will help you get a better
picture of who I am and why you might want to listen to me.
If you haven’t already done so, please sign up to
Stay Tuned-IN so that I can let you know as soon as I post part 2.

But let’s get back to the heart of this dialogue:

When Was The Last Time You Gave Yourself
Permission To Play, Especially At Work?

Nurture your neoteny. I recently read about neoteny, a term
used by Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for
Play and co-author of the book Play. According to Dr. Brown,
most species have within their ranks adult-aged individuals
who retain youthful traits and behaviors.

As he puts it: “Neoteny is the state or attitude of perpetual
immaturity and playfulness.” Not that anyone is suggesting or
recommending that you act in an immature or inappropriate way.
It’s more about having the mindset of youthful-ness that
we’re talking about here.

Psychiatrist Bruce Charlton agrees that retaining a  youthful
state of mind for adults holds a great deal of value, especially
during the 21st century, when embracing technological advances
and dealing with the uncertainty of business and personal
situations demands an increased ability to be more
adaptable, more flexible and more open to new things and new ideas.

There is a kid within us all, just waiting for a chance to
escape the classroom and go play. Literally and figuratively.
Your inner kid needs to have permission to have fun more often,
especially within a work environment. Have you ever heard of
Patagonia (the clothing company, not the country)?

Yvon Chouinard, its founder, took his own life philosophy
deeply to heart and has always run his company based on the
principle of “work hard, play harder”. He even named his seminal
book about his company and his life - Let My People Go Surfing…

and he does just that.

He actually encourages all of his employees to follow the example
that he and his own family have set for all these years – to go out
into the world, experience nature, enjoy nature, play hard and give
back to the world community to help make it a better place for all of us.

It has been an extremely successful model for Chouinard
(to say the least) and for others who have followed his example.

Another illustration of this concept is the movie The Kid (2000)
with Bruce Willis, in which a strangely familiar 8-year-old boy self
appears to him,  in his adult life, to remind him of  very some very
important things which he’s either forgotten or locked away deep
inside himself. It’s a fun, funny, heartwarming story of transformation
and personal growth.

What Tips Will Help Me Become More Creative?

Give yourself permission to play and learn to celebrate the purpose
of play throughout your entire life. Here are a few pointers from
personal growth expert Kevin Carroll that might help as you explore
opportunities for play in your own life:

• Have the discipline to be present
• Maintain eyes of wonder to identify new opportunities
• Stay forever curious
• Actively pursue a hobby or avocation

STOP AND RELAX!
If this is all you do it will be a great beginning to taking
better care of yourself.

My goal is to encourage and assist you in the process of
opening the doors to your   creativity, your happiness and
your true abundance – in all its manifestations. So, please,
join me next time for part 2 when I will share more tips,
exercises and resources to help in this journey.

We are all in this together. By increasing your creativity,
you will help to make your own life and the lives of those
around you richer and brighter. You will be helping to make
the world a much better place.

And who can argue with that?

If you’ve got some ideas about creativity or inspiration,
or if you have any comments, suggestions or questions
about this topic, I’d love to hear from you. It would be wonderful
to start a dialogue about creativity and inspiration.

We all need encouragement and reminders from time to time.
Please leave your comments below and then sign up to
Stay Tuned-IN for part 2.

Just one more thing: if you have found this article interesting
or helpful, I hope you’ll share it with others you know in
your social media world.

Thank you for reading my thoughts. I truly appreciate
your time and interest and I look forward to sharing
much more with you very soon.

Please take a minute to sign up for my F.R.E.E gift. I’d love to stay in touch with you.

With Light and Inspiration,

Buff Elting

6 people like this post.

Unlike

If You Liked This, You Might Enjoy These Also...

• A More Creative You? part 2
• Amazing Traveling by air Toys with regard to Kids
• Your Inner Ocean
• Fear vs Trust