3 Creative Exercises for Your Week

Friday night, my friends Jeremy and Hannah invited several of us over for dinner at their new home.  I thought we would all share the evening together.  All the guys crowded into a room with ESPN on T.V. looking up hilarious Youtube videos like this hilarious one of Omar.  The ladies gathered at the kitchen table around a laptop to stalk, I mean search, Pinterest for decorating ideas in the new house.

Pinterest is the new addiction of many ladies I know.  Some other blogs for creative ideas include two ladies that I’m proud to call friends.  Shaunna West is a friend from college and has the Perfectly Imperfect blog and Ashley Mills has the Handmade Home blog.  In my book, these two ladies are creative geniuses when it comes to home decor.  Granted, that’s a craft that’s far beyond my creative interests, but I share these sites with you for inspiration.

Personally, I have about thirty blogs that I read through RSS feeds throughout the week.  My creative interests start with music and film, but also spread to writing, innovation in missions and social justice and communicating thought provoking messages through artistic expressions.

So what about you?  What are your creative interests and how to feed your creativity?  More importantly, how do you tap into creativity to make a difference in the world?  Remember, the gift of creativity isn’t meant to be wasted on selfish interests, but used in a way to honor God and make an impact.

If you don’t have a regular go to place for creative inspiration or spark, I want to give you three exercises to try this week to help spur some imagination and wake up part of your brain that needs some stimulation.

1. Draw a diagram - My friend Tim has diagrams for everything.  They are pictures that illustrate his ideas.  These pictures take his thoughts and put them in a visual form so that he can express and explain them to others.  Drawing a diagram can help you illustrate something as simple as your menu plan for the week, or your vacation plans for summer.  Practice putting your thoughts into pictures instead of only reminders or lists.  Force yourself to think and communicate in a different way.  This exercise helps your mind in rethinking and reshaping your thoughts to communicate them to others.
2. Learn a new word each day – There are several online dictionaries that offer a “word of the day” feature delivered to your email.  Don’t just learn the definition, but look up the word in a thesaurus as well.  Pictures are worth 1000 words, right?  The more you can create mental pictures and understanding with language, the more your mind will wake up to creative possibilities.
3. Plan a themed party – Pick your favorite movie or childhood story.  Plan a birthday party for one of your closest friends or a fundraiser for your favorite charity.  If you make it about someone other than you, you have to think bigger about the theme, and not just what you would like.  Plan three games.  Write a list of possible characters or costumes to give the guests to prepare.  Write a guest list, but include some major players in the news for that day that may need some fun times.  Doing this will help you to think imaginatively as well as help you think of people that may enjoy or need to connect with the party.  It can be an exercise, but it will be more fun if you carry it out.  If I’m free, I’d love to be at the party.

Questions for today…

• What are some other ways you can think out of the box?
• How do you “exercise” your mind to stay sharp?
• Can you share any web sites or blogs that inspire your creativity?

Think outside the box this week.  Think big.  What can be better?  Do it.