Leave a little fallow corner in your heart ready for any seed the winds may bring.
–Henri Frederic Amiel

Creativity is an attitude, a way of approaching life, not a quality reserved for those who consider themselves artists. A painter or writer can produce truly dull work without a deep sense of creativity. On the other hand, an engineer or an accountant can each approach her work in a creative way that allows for imagination and thinking beyond the lines. New ways of viewing things can inspire and enhance anyone’s life and work.

Here are some great tips and hints to get your own creative juices flowing!

1. Keep a writing or drawing journal. Keeping a journal is one of the most powerful ways to calm the mind, take inventory of your thoughts, and open the doors to expressing yourself more fully. It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself a writer or an artist, because this journal is just for you and your personal journey. Journaling can be a way to vent anger, spill sorrow, and revel in accomplishments. It can be a love letter to yourself, an instrument of confidence-building, a method of clearing the mind and finding out who you really are.

2. Use jasmine. The fragrance of jasmine incense or essential oil creates a positive state of consciousness that is particularly conducive to journaling. Its sweet, fresh fragrance inspires creativity, creates a soothing atmosphere, and leaves one refreshed and clear in mind and spirit. Jasmine is uplifting, balancing, helps with stress and anxiety, and builds self-confidence.

3. Warm-ups for journaling: write about your day; write an observation of the natural world or what you see out your window; write a letter to a parent or child; write a poem to your beloved; write about a memorable event; write down a question for which you believe you have no answers at the moment.

4. If drawing is your medium, draw what you see or what you feel, or even make a sketch of how you would like things or people to be. This is the time for pure fantasy, so let your hand fly over the pages with pencil or brush. A journal that combines writing and drawing may be the best way to tap into all sides of your creativity and to fully express what you feel.

5. Surround yourself with the right colors for creativity. Black, which represents the unknown, is a stimulant to the release of feelings and thoughts. Violet is the color of creativity, and purple the color of passion. Red is creation itself, passion, energy, and stamina. Orange encourages playfulness and vitality, and yellow stimulates the mind. Choosing a little of several of these colors in each of your rooms will greatly enhance your creative energy in anything and everything in your life.

6. You don’t have to be an artist to see like one. Anyone can appreciate color, form, content, and style. You don’t need to be a musician to hear like one. Open your ears to all the sounds and cadences of life. Not a dancer? You can still feel the rhythm in the spring of your walk, add sass to your stance and grace to every move you make.

Whenever the opportunity comes up to sing in a choir, paint part of community mural, dance at your reunion, wrap a present with whimsy, enter your home decorations in a local contest, or just garnish dinner with a rosette of radishes, do it! Creativity is not just song, art, and dance. It’s living with style.