As I stated in my previous post, I am exploring the idea of ‘creativity’ and I found an interesting article written by Preston Ni in Psychology Today. The article, How to Unleash Your Creativity, talks about dealing with mental or creative blocks. It discusses steps you can take to unleash your potential and become inspired. Although this all sounds very cheesy, what drew me towards this article was the range of media it utilised to convey it’s message. It used pictures, text, quotes, music, and videos as well as using links to other articles for further reading. I found it to be a prime example of how media can be used in an academic sense to help interest and educate people.

So, the 7 key ideas Ni talks about in this article are:

#1 Change your “I don’t know” or “I can’t” thinking to “what if..?”
#2 Take a break from the mundane
#3 Listen to complex music
#4 Get out of your head with exercise and movement
#5 Immerse yourself in nature and colours
#6 Consult your board of advisers
#7 Read or watch biographies of inspiring, creative people

Ni recommends that, as an individual, you personalise your response and “utilize any one or combination of these ideas as you see fit”.

I found this article very interesting and helpful for myself personally. I especially connected with the first of his ideas, change your thinking. Ni talks about close-ended and open-ended statements and how it is much more productive to be thinking positively in an open-ended way. Sometimes fixed patterns can be a “major barrier in inspiration”, Ni explains, and changing these patterns and “enjoying the process” can be the key to success with unlocking your creative potential.

As Albert Einstien once said:
”To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination.”

So with this new way of thinking, I shall endeavour to find inspiration and open up my creative potential – it must be there somewhere!

Until then,

Rose @)—