Recently I had the great privilege of being a guest lecturer in a philosophy class at Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. My good friend Dr. Jean Dimock, the professor who teaches this class, asked if I would be a guest lecturer and speak about how art plays a roll in the world as it is perceived philosophically.  It has been a while since I taught or did any public speaking and I was happy to use my chops again.

In one way or another I have been in the creative and performing arts my whole life.  One thing rings true to me no matter what type of art is being practiced, there are common threads to them all.  The process of creative thinking is actually a deeper sense of intuition and knowing.  The practice of any art form, from painting to theater to music, culinary arts and so on, actually is already within us by just being human.

Some people may feel this is actually not true, that they do not have a creative bone in their body, but I heartily disagree. We all develop those parts of ourselves that are necesary at the time we begin to develop them and we train our brains to be either pragmatic or imaginative.  I know this sounds too limited a scope, but trust me, every job or lifestyle fits into one or the other category.

Pragmatists are actually people who see the world in a very black and white format.  They love data, facts, proven records, the “it is what it is” mentality. The reality is that any one person can be both pragmatic and imaginative, just not at the same time.

But I digress, as I often do.  What is the bottom line of how to unlock the key to your creative flow?  It’s really simple to diagnose,  but the problem is that getting rid of the blockage that stops the creative flow takes acknowledgement that the problem is in your head. It takes practice to get it out of your head, and a leap of faith to start the process rolling. The simple truth is, the one reason that is responsible for this blockage is fear. That’s right, you got it.  Fear you won’t be as good as someone else, fear you started too late, fear you won’t be able to.  Where does this fear come from?  Well, as much as a bad teacher or unsupportive parent, a sarcastic sibling or some other nemesis may have planted a seed that grew roots that invaded your mind may be responsible, here is the kicker, that was in the past, or may be your present that you need to override.  But you live in the now, so you need to tap into your current desire to create something and dive right into that notion.

Stop blaming someone else, it’s all on you!  Do you want to get unblocked?  Then face your fears, go after your goals and just get started.  Get that inertia going in the right direction!

Below is a 15 minute painting.  I asked the students to come up and start painting even if they never had before.  I asked them to face the fear of what others might think and although it took a few seconds to get a brave first student to come up and make her mark, eventually most, if not all of them were in line taking a stab at it.

I talked them through the thoughts I knew could be rolling through their heads.  You’re afraid to mess up someone elses mark? I encouraged them to be bold.  Some were slow others fast, others came back a few times. Things were really speeding up until the time was up and I had the feeling many of them wanted to keep going.

That was my goal, to get them to start something creative, joining with others and dealing with their heads and it was super fun.  The canvas was 2′ x 4′. Enjoy the work of their hands!!!

The Sarah Hale Folger Project seeks to inspire greatness in humanity by sharing inspiring stories with the world. Please contact me here on my blog or through my website at http://www.SarahHaleFolger.com

Sarah Hale Folger is a Creative Consultant, Blogger, Artist & Singer. PLEASE make sure to subscribe to my blog today so you never miss the next thing happening in the world the way I see it! Please feel free to comment, share and subscribe to my blog!!! Thanks!!