A Quick Exercise in Creativity

Twyla Tharp, the famous choreographer, wrote a wonderful book called The Creative Habit which was published in 2003. I recently ran across it in my bookcase. It is a book filled with suggestions and processes for getting the creative juices flowing in your being presented against the backdrop of her fascinating career. Whether you are a writer, painter, choreographer, teacher, or manager, Twyla’s book can help you start to think outside that infamous box for solutions to your conflicts.

One exercise is so simple I have to mention it. Take a handful of coins and toss them on a table. Then work with the pattern made by the coins. Keep moving the coins around until you feel as sense of completion, congruity, satisfaction. It doesn’t matter whether you will use the design you just completed in a project. You have just allowed yourself to observe a situation and create a possible resolution. Simply stated, you have gotten yourself into a creative mode. Now, move on to the nagging problem you have been avoiding all week!

One more suggestion – as you turn your attention to that chronic conflict, remember to take a few deep breaths, stretch your body a bit, and then smile. That too will help get the creative juices flowing.

Judy Warner