What is Creativity?

"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it." - Kurt Vonnegut

On a cold and frosty night, warm-hearted folk met up ConsciousCafe Newbury's first event of 2020. We had a fabulous group of lovely people – including authors, artists and film-makers – and a fantastic evening exploring ‘What is Creativity?’

We talked about the different things that sparked our creativity. Examples included: a desire to help others; to create an impact through our art, changing people’s perspectives; to encourage more empathy and peace in a polarised world; our natural impulse to play and have fun, just for the pure joy of doing something we loved; to distract us from physical pain; to help us understand ourselves and others better; and to learn and grow.
We asked ourselves:

• What is creativity? Is it a force within us or a force outside ourselves?
• How can we use our creative gifts to enhance our lives?
• What might block our creativity? What helps us to free up our creativity?

Each person brought a wealth of knowledge, talent and experience and everyone contributed with thoughtful insights, personal reflections and playful humour. There were moving testimonies about how being creative had enhanced or transformed people’s lives, even during the most challenging of times. We considered strategies to overcome the Inner Critic, the different stages of the creative process and how we could be more creative in our lives.

Some of our take-aways included:
• Giving ourselves permission to be creative, whatever that might mean to us
• Encouraging and cheering others on makes all the difference … and creates a ripple effect of positivity
• Our imagination and unconscious minds are incredibly powerful
• The importance of being kind to ourselves when we’re trying something new or developing our level of mastery
• The act of being creative feels amazing! All our worries drop away and time seems to stop when we’re in flow and following our bliss

The lively conversations continued as we chatted and mingled over cups of tea, coffee and delicious biscuits. New friends were made, and we left feeling inspired, happy and energised.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” - Picasso

Rachel Calder, leader of ConsciousCafe Newbury
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