Holding Back Creativity - Little Fish Big Impact

What are Creative Frustrations?

Before thinking about how to be creative, let us begin by pointing out some real barriers some people seem to have when wanting to enhance their creativity.

“I’m just not creative.”
“I don’t like the idea of getting it wrong.”
“I don’t have the time.”
“Fantasising about stuff is a waste of time.”
“Logic and reason is the answer.”

Creativity is about producing ideas. It only takes seconds to link our thoughts and ideas. It can happen anytime, anywhere.

Provided you are in the right state of mind and pay attention to your own experiences.

Rational thoughts never drive people’s creativity the way emotions do.
Neil deGrasse Tyson 1

The quality of your creativity improves when you are receptive to your feelings and thoughts.

Self-esteem check-in

Creativity results in unusual ideas and perhaps even being different. We can think of many ideas as strange or challenging.

Fear of being weird, stupid or just different often kills creativity. If a creative person feared any of those things, they would never create anything! When you do something creative, you go beyond the bounds of feeling safe and leave the familiar in the past.

When you are not sure about yourself, being different in any way can feel risky or make you feel vulnerable. The danger is you give up your new ideas to just blend in.

This inhibits us. If you are making a new connection in your brain, there can be no inherent ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ about it.

Failure can only have two meanings. Firstly, something didn’t work out the way you wanted it to. Secondly, someone else did not like it. But so what??!! Many inventions start out as failures.

It’s a Bubble Wrap

Bubble wrap was supposed to be a fashionable new 3 D textured wallpaper for the 1960’s. It was a total flop until the inventors (Fielding & Chavannes) found a new use for their invention.

They had to wait until IBM needed something to protect its computers from being damaged during shipment.

Sealed Air was established and this great invention has grown to a become a multi billion company.

Where would we be without bubble wrap? For both packaging and popping!! 2,3,4, 5,6.

Failure is fine because it feeds back into the creative process much like an inspiration.

Creative techniques such as brainstorming enhance your creativity. If at any time you doubt your ability to be creative, remind yourself several times every night you create an entirely new dream, which you script, act in and watch

It involves all your senses and has effects that can last long after it is over.

When in doubt think of the bubble wrap journey!

This creation appears so very effortless many people do not even recognise its bumpy ride to creative success!

References:

1.Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-)American astrophysicist and author.

2.Petch, Michael (2019). “The hype and rise of 3D printing and Avi Reichental”. 3DPrintingIndustry.com.

3.”Has bubble wrap become a generic trademark?”. genericides.org. (2021)

4.”Bubble Film and Bags”. Packaging Knowledge. Retrieved September 28, 2010.

5. Fielding & Chavannes patent example

“Method for Making Laminated Cushioning Material,” patented July 28, 1964 U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,599

6. Burke, Monte (2006). “Wrap Star”. Forbes.