Right Brain Boosters: Reclaiming Your Creativity
If you ask any small child to draw a picture they will pick up whatever art materials are to hand and start. They know what they want to draw, they can express their emotions by use of colour and facial expressions, they know when the drawing is complete, and they can tell you about it in great detail and with great certainty.
Somewhere along the road, most of us lose that freedom and certainty of expression. We start to doubt our abilities. We make decisions that we are not good at this, or that. And we decide to stick to the serious and practical activities of working and earning money.
Photo by: gotpaid? Flickr Photo (CC)
In a world where left-brained logic is trusted and respected more than the right brained realm of imagination and creativity, it’s easy to see how we tend to favour the path of administration or IT for our areas of doing and earning.
Yet, one of the greatest scientific minds, was fuelled by a vivid imagination. When Einstein imagined riding on a light beam and formed his imagined experience into a mathematical formula it became the theory of special relativity.
The famous Theory of Relativity paper was born from the combined power of logic and imagination. Experts in integrative thinking, therefore, consider Einstein an excellent example of whole brain thinking.
An Easy Way to Get Creative
It’s never too late to rekindle your creativity and engage in whole brain thinking. To doodle, to write a poem, to learn to play a musical instrument, or to sing. All of these simple creative pleasures can free you from stress and kick start your full potential as a creative thinker.
One great way to give your brain a break and spend quality time with children at the same time, is to grab a pot of colouring pencils and colour in together while listening to classical music. Don Campbell the compiler of the Mozart Effect has released a collection that I particularly enjoy called “Music to Unlock the Creative Spirit”.
Anyone can colour pre-printed pictures, you don’t have to worry about whether you think you can draw or not, you can just relax and unwind while your right brain gets a boost and the other side gets a break. Healthy, cheap and fun.