Does creativity come from an inspiring muse or by sitting under the full moon? Let’s see how other people cultivate their creative ideas! 

Be lost in your thoughts 
Your mind is actually a sea of ideas. Before you go to sleep or take a shower, several thoughts must be coming to your mind. What if it actually starts raining cats and dogs? What if you turn into a lobster one day? What if you get transported in an alternate world while you’re showering?

Those thoughts could turn into creative ideas if you want them to be. The challenge of creativity is to fish those ideas out and turn them into reality. If you want to foster your creativity, you have to stop ignoring these thoughts and let them run.

Don’t get scared of imperfections 
Nothing’s perfect, not even our creative ideas. In actuality, the biggest bane of creativity is perfection.

A common scenario of writers is probably this: a writer thinks of a creative idea and decides to turn it to a reality. However, two sentences in, they stop writing and stare at their piece with scrutiny. ‘The sentence sounds wrong,’ they think. They start erasing their piece until there’s nothing left of it.

If you want to foster your creativity, you should be ready to embrace imperfection. You won’t be able to turn your creative ideas into reality if you keep worrying how they’ll be perceived by the public. 

Get some power snooze 
If you are struggling to find good creative ideas, then a simple nap might be in order.

According to an experiment done in the University of California at San Francisco, brain activity is shown to improve after a short nap. The lab rats who had a short nap were revealed to move their brain activity to the hippocampus. It is important to remember that the hippocampus is responsible for learning and memory.

For this reason, the lab rats were able to process their experiences better than the lab rats without sleep. 

Experience
Creative ideas don’t just sprout out of nowhere; they come from experiences!

Many famous writers had creative ideas from their own experiences. For example, Michael Crichton, the famous author of Jurassic Park, drew inspiration from his world travels for his books. If you really want to foster your creativity, you shouldn’t confine yourself to a room. You should go out there and experience!

Be confident of your ideas
Your creativity will never fully grow if you are not confident of your creative ideas. You might think that it’s overzealous to think that your ideas can so great that it will change the world. Whether it can or cannot, pursue those ideas! It’s okay to feel that way to your ideas. It is what drives creativity, after all.

And even though your creative ideas might not turn great in the end, don’t falter. Creativity runs only when you allow it to be. So, when an idea doesn’t come out well, have another one.

What’s your advice in keeping the spark of creativity alive?

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/guides/year-of-living-better/how-to-be-creative
https://medium.com/the-mission/how-to-become-more-creative-and-free-your-mind-6101b9460372

Contributed by: Allison Julianne Macasaet
Allison is a freelance writer on the side, a student of international relations on the other. Interests include fantasy books, international relations, and lifestyle.