improvarama

Challenges? Of course! Problems? Everywhere! Improvisation gives you and advantage: you can think on your feet in the moment, fearlessly. Creativity gives you an edge -- what you try that doesn't fly shows you a better way to get by. Don't stop creating until you stop breathing.  Don't stop improvising until you die. Keep the fun alive. -- doug smith  

Staying creative opens more possibilities. -- doug smith

It's awkward to experience a creative block when you need to create on the spot. It feels like driving an old country winding road on a dark night when your headlights suddenly go out. Not fun. Scary, even.  Ah, but sometimes creativity feels like that. Sometimes improvisation feels less than automatic. Should we keep driving, or stop in our tracks? Maybe coast? What drives you, what guides you is still there. As long as we put in the hours and work the practice, our practice will kick in and get us going. Don't knock the blocks, they are there to build on. Creative break-thru come after creative blocks. And -- those creative break-thru are sweet indeed. -- doug smith  

Find the place where you are the most creative and spend much more time there. -- doug smith

What bothers you can also make you more creative.  It's a push (and sometimes a shove)! It's a moment of inspiration! It's a call to do something...new. WRITING PROMPT: Think about something that you find utterly aggravating. Now, write for two minutes on what to do about that. -- doug smith  

 Some people sing fantastically. Some people do not think that they can sing at all. If you have a voice, you can sing. If you allow yourself to find that voice and sing from your heart (and from your toes) it will not matter that you do not sound like someone else you'd consider a great singer. You sound like yourself. You sound great. Can you improve? Of course! Should you ever stop singing? No! What could be a faster path to creativity than singing? No one else can sing your song for you. Sing! -- doug smith

Some people fear the creative impulse because it might produce work that breaks something.  I think that we can relax on that. Creativity never breaks anything. Breaking creativity breaks everything. -- doug smith 

One of my favorite questions is "how do you develop creativity?" because there are so many answers. Here's my favorite answer:  Developing creativity is easy -- just start creating and never stop. Make sense? Feel right? Try it! -- doug smith

If you want to be useful, create. If you want to be valued, create. If you want to be happy, create. -- doug smith  

It's not always what you create that matters -- it's the joy of that creative process. -- doug smith  

Every once in a while, sometimes when we least expect it, we get sad. It could have a cause, or it could feel random. It's not fun, either way. But we don't have to let sadness have the last say. Take your sadness and turn it into something creative. See what happens... -- doug smith  

To resist creativity is to prove its need. Push back, or not. Resist, or not.  What is your most creative way of amusing yourself? Could you do that now? Creativity is amusing yourself at its best. -- doug smith

Save your most recent grocery list. It must be yours sand contain several items. Write about your list, item by item. What does each item mean to you. Write about what each item says about the world. Close with three questions for reflection. Reflect.   -- doug smith

There is no creative justification for not being creative. If you wait, you're late. If you stall, you fall. Put pen to paper, put paint to canvas, put needle to fabric, put hammer to nail -- create. "What if it's not good?" "Of course it won't be good at first. Start, revise, let it fly..." "Let it fly?" "Yep." There is no excuse you should buy, no reason you should accept, no rejection you should take too seriously. There is no creative or non-creative justification for not being creative. You already are. Get busy. -- doug smith

Don't wait for creativity -- create something and spark your own creativity. -- doug smith  

  "Madness likes to call itself creative, but that doesn't mean that it is." -- doug smith OPTIONAL ACTIVITY: 1. Draw a picture. Keep drawing until you fill the page, no matter what develops. 2. Say something about it in one sentence.