Helping the creative process

 

The next time you’re out walking in the park and a jogger runs past, take a look at the mechanics, the posture and the efficiency of their movement. Everybody’s running style is unique and so to it is with our creative processes.  A few runners seem to be in perfect harmony with their bodies, moving with a natural flow.  Most however, have inherited and developed some unconscious tension or inefficiency.  Perhaps it’s the way they hit the ground, or throw out their feet, or move their arms, or hold their chest.  Some glide, some pound, others battle away.

 

Like most joggers almost everyone involved in the creative process could do with an objective eye and a bit of help to improve.  Some need just a little fine tuning, some motivation, others to be freed from their battle.  It can be about new information, fresh perspectives, understanding context or a broader analysis of where they are on their creative journey.  How best to grow, or unblock?  Is every creative need being met and if not how best to meet them?

 

Most creatives already engage with their body as part of their creative process.  Writers write what they feel, painters paint what they feel and all those involved in a creative process will consciously or unconsciously connect to their feelings, to some extent, when they assess and engage with their process.  Creatives usually feel when something is right or wrong, but they rarely engage their body in a way that extracts the full scope of its capabilities.

 

Embodied Creativity is a unique approach to enhance the creative process, by entering into a dialogue with the body allowing all its creative expression to be made available and without interference from the intellect.  Nature is the most potent creative intelligence known to us and the human body is nature in action.  Tapping into the body is tapping into the full potential of that creative intelligence.  All we have to do is to learn how to engage with the wisdom that’s within us all.

 

The process of Embodied Creativity can be separated into two basic functions: setting and process.  

 

Setting is everything that sits around our creative process.  Broadly, the bigger picture of what helps us and what blocks us.  What blocks us can be precisely identified and cleared through Body Wisdom Therapy.  This knowledge allows us to come to our creative challenges at our best.

 

Process is harnessing our body intelligence so that it can help us in every step of our creative journey.  This allows us to interact with our creative challenges connected to full potential of our insight and in the most efficient way possible whilst armed with all the information needed.

 

Setting

 

All aspects of the setting and context of the creative process are considered including:

 

Strengths & Weaknesses – this includes areas we need to invest in and develop to meet our creative potential.  What are our best qualities, do we utilise them fully and what qualities do we need to develop?  What’s new that we can bring to our processes to enhance them?  Where is there resistance and where does it come from? 

 

Creative Purpose – what does our creativity means to us, what does it satisfies in us and what does a particular brief or business brings to us and to the world? Having this clarity is empowering.  Understanding the full context of our particular creative gifts allows us to be more aligned to them.  Knowing what our business brings to the world gives is a valuable insight.

 

What motivates and demotivates us? – this identifies how we can set ourselves up to be at our most creative, what we can use to inspire us, what is our muse? How we can best push ourselves creatively?  It is also important to know what takes away our creativity and how we can avoid it?

 

Authenticity – where are we truly authentic and where are we not?  What conditions do we place on our creativity?  What hidden assumptions do we make?  Do we have any unmet needs?  And what is our measure of success? What expectations do we put on ourselves and how do these effect our creativity? 

 

Range - exploring how to push, expand and broaden our creative process.

 

Process

 

All aspects of the creative process that we are engaged with including:

 

Identifying the problem – ensuring we've set out on our creative journey knowing clearly what problems need to be identified and resolved. Discovering what we can say that's different.

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The Creative brief – engaging and clarifying each element of the creative brief and ensuring we stay true to that.

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Clarifying purpose – understanding the wider context of each creative mission and how that impacts on our creative process.

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Revealing story – identifying the key elements of the story that needs to be told and how best to tell that story.

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Finding solutions – exploring and assessing solutions; identifying where inspiration can be found.

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Assessing the journey – assessing how true the creative process has stayed to the creative brief, understanding where we are in the process and how close we are to its full potential. Understanding what if anything has been missed? Identifying whether anything has not been expressed that needs to be.

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Evaluating – evaluating ideas and engaging with the creative process free from interference from the intellect.  What have we seen and what have we missed?

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Exploring Function – fully engaging with the function of the brief and exploring its potential and the extent to which all its needs can and have been met by our process. 

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