Grow the creator inside you with these daily habits:
Give back to the world creatively in some small way every day.
Create a piece of art (crayon doodles qualify).
Write a poem or powerful word of encouragement – even a well-thought-out positive online review will do.
Financially support an inventor, writer, or other creative artist. Buy their stuff!
Give back to the creation that gives so much to you – our world! Plant something, tidy up and conserve your resources.
Reflect daily on three creative things that made your life happier, easier or just simply brought you joy and delight.
That fabulously crafted latte.
The automatic stapler that helped you survive assembling 500 conference packets.
The creative beauty found in the colors of a majestic sunset.
The weirdness of a jellyfish.
Always keep your Idea Trap handy.
A wonderful educator, Gayle Cribbs, found great joy in inspiring creative thought within her students. (One of those students was our founder, Sharon Autry.) Mrs. Cribbs gave each of her students a small spiral memo pad, their Idea Trap, and encouraged them to keep it by their side at all times – even resting on the nightstand during slumber for those late-night epiphanies. She instructed her students to record every clever thought/idea/great design in the trap right away - even if it was for a later time or maybe never to be used. No idea was unworthy; no doodle too awkward for the Idea Trap’s blank pages.
While a spiral notepad may not fit your personal style, be sure to always have a blank page or digital note-keeper at the ready for the moments when inspiration strikes. Scrap paper and napkins are great pinch-hitters, but be sure to transfer their details into a notebook or digital file as soon as you are able. You don’t want those ideas to fly (or be thrown!) away!
Find your joy not in the success or implementation of trapped ideas – but in the process of their discovery.