So, it’s stormy outside. Even if you can go out, you don’t really want to. All you want to do is stay home with your sloppiest clothes, turn on the heat, make a huge cup of tea, and… do something creative?!
Just because we’re at home doesn’t mean we can’t do some creative fun and turn our home into an endless playground. Ready, let’s be creative!
Tear Down the Weekend Newspaper
OK, that’s not really the creative part. But how about taking a random Seed and creating a collage inspired by it? Use pieces of newspapers, fliers, or even small objects. Anything you can play with, rearrange, cut and paste, and eventually bring your imagination to life with. The only rule is that whatever you create must be in the form of a collage.
Looking around you for raw material, taking it out of context and even using parts of it, is a great creative exercise. In a sense, any creative act is a collage – taking a set of things and turning them into something new and surprising by using them as they are or parts of them.
Training our mind to see everyday things as raw material for something completely different is an integral part of improving our creative skills. And, you might just end up with a nice artwork to hang at home.
Create a Game
As grown-ups, many of us don’t have enough chances to play. I mean playing real games, with physical pieces and real interaction with real human beings you can actually look in the eyes. If you use the stormy weekend to play with friends or family, you are about to have the time of your life.
But let’s take it further. How about creating a game? Yes! A real game. Whether it is a board game or a card game, whether it has pieces you are about to create or just a set of rules and ready-made pieces from other games.
Inventing a game is not an easy task. You can start with a well-known game and just imagine a new context or game-pieces based on it. If you want to make this exercise more challenging, try creating a completely new game, with an innovative set of rules.
Creating a game is like creating a small world of your own. Try it, and don’t forget to play with it later.
Draw a Song
Listen to a song you love. Listen to it mindfully. Absorb the music, repeat the words, get into the story. Now, create a drawing or a painting inspired by the song.
If you are like me (in this context: lacking the ability to draw even a straight line) don’t be discouraged. The point of this creative challenge is not to create a beautiful drawing. Instead, we aim for two things. First, we want to go inside the song: feel it as well as understand it. Second, we aim for expressing what we absorbed in a way which is less trivial or casual for most of us.
Whether it is just an abstract doodle or an accurate painting that comes to life, treat this challenge as a child would: just take a pencil or some colors and start working. Don’t think too much and certainly don’t hold back and censor yourself.
Listen to Someone
When was the last time you sat with someone and really, deeply, listened?
Try listening with the intent to understand, without being judgemental or trying to solve a problem – just trying to see things through the eyes of another person.
What does that have to do with creativity you might ask. Well, the ability to change perspective and see things beyond the default way you perceive them is the essence of creativity. It’s a fantastic exercise for the mind, and in this specific case, also to the soul.
The ability to listen and try to be in the shoes of another person is also a key to problem-solving and ideation in a business context. Practicing it with someone close is an extra bonus.
This practice will bring you closer to the person you are talking to. This by itself is not something to take lightly. We used to be able to do that all the time, but with all the distractions and virtual relationships around us, this ability becomes less and less trivial.
Fast Forward
A rainy day is a perfect opportunity to sit with a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and imagine the future.
We are often so busy in the here and now that we fail to look forward. I’m not talking about making concrete plans or even setting goals. Plans and goals are essential of course, but they should always serve something more significant: a vision or a mission. And many of us don’t take the time to define one (or refine what we have set).
Once more, this activity has so many benefits in life planning, being effective, and more. But above all, this is an exercise in being imaginative. Seeing where you are heading is a pure act of imagination and therefore a real creative challenge.
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If you would like to develop and master your creativity, you have to practice on a daily basis. Like developing any other skill, theory or arbitrary exercise will not do the trick.
[clickToTweet tweet=”The world is vast. Our #imagination is infinite.” quote=”The world is vast. Our imagination is infinite.”]
The good news is that unlike other activities, you can practice and develop your creativity anywhere at any time, and in any context. And so, a stormy weekend can be a perfect setup for some creative challenges.
I often say the world is our playground, but in fact, our mind and our imagination are the real playgrounds. The world is vast. Our imagination is infinite. Even if you are confined to your home this weekend, you can travel anywhere in your imagination. You can dive into a song, create an imaginary world in a game, visit another person’s mind, or even have a peek into your own future.
Don’t waste the weekend. Be creative!