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How often are you encouraged to be creative in your daily life?

Sometimes, many of us who are not “artists” begin to lose the connection with creativity beyond childhood. We see hobbies as frivolous wastes of time if they are not lucrative, and generally reduce the concept of creativity to drawing, painting, or writing poetry, but are we missing the big picture?

Creativity can be applied to life in SO many ways!

From culinary creations and writing from the heart, to moving your body and thinking outside the box in your career endeavors, creativity can be the secret sauce that brings everything in life to a higher level of joy and fulfillment.

At Integrative Nutrition, we consider creativity to be an integral part of what it means to live a holistic life, in fact we consider it a Primary Food, an important non-dietary source of nourishment.

The great thing about creativity is that once you open yourself up to being more creative - whatever that means for you - it trickles over into other parts of your life so that you experience a greater sense of openness and flow. Now doesn’t that sound nice?

Here are 20 ways to reconnect with your inner creative spirit: 

1.     Try the 30 circles test featured in Tim Brown’s TED talk, Creativity and Play – draw 30 circles on a pieces of paper and adapt as many circles as you can into objects like a sun, globe, etc. in one minute’s time!
2.     Go out in nature with your camera and photograph anything that looks interesting to you.
3.     Pick a word that’s on your mind, and write that word down in an elaborate way by making the letters look funky or doodling around them.
4.     Find an object around the house that you don’t need and figure out a way to give it a new purpose.
5.     Move your body in a way you don’t usually move it for at least 5 minutes.
6.     For 5-10 minutes every day, write down the physical sensations you experience in that moment, elaborating in as much detail as possible.
7.     Go to the craft section of the library or book store and find a topic that appeals to you, then really focus on getting good at that for the next month.
8.     Buy some beads and make jewelry for your closest friends.
9.     Get some watercolors and watercolor paper and play with colors, brush strokes, and splatters in an abstract way, free of the pressure to resemble anything in real life.
10.  Go to Pinterest and search for “paper flowers” then go to town making a bouquet!
11.  Design a T-Shirt or tote bag for yourself using a service like Zazzle or CafePress.
12.  Open your journal and fill a whole page by continuing this sentence: the most beautiful thing in the world is…
13.  Think back to your favorite creative project as a kid, then go do that again!
14.  Close your eyes and imagine the life you want to be living one year from now, then draw it, paint it, write it down, or document it in whatever way feels most natural to you.
15.  Create a “wall of inspiration” in your bedroom by gathering images, items, quotes, artwork, and anything else that inspires you.  
16.  Rearrange the furniture in one room of your home with the intention of creating “flow.”
17.  Draw a portrait of yourself or someone you love… while blindfolded!
18.  Spend 10 minutes doodling whatever comes to mind while listening to a podcast about something you find interesting.
19.  Sign up for a class in something you’ve never done before but have always wanted to try – like a pottery or cooking class!
20.  Create a beautiful handmade card, complete with a heart-felt message, for someone you love a whole lot.

Inspiration is all around if you simply set the intention to be more creative and let yourself have fun without any attachment to perfection. It’s all about the process!

How do you get your creative juices flowing? Share in the comments below!