Here’s a quick tip…This is one way that I keep the creativity flowing when there is no time to actually paint.
Sometimes Chelsea will look over at me and catch me in the act.
I’ll be drawing in the air with my finger. I may look like a wacko, but I’m actually in the zone. Sometimes when ideas just come to me, I may not be in a place to jot them down or timing is just terrible to start painting, like when it’s our children’s bedtime.
Inspiration doesn’t have the greatest timing. It arrives (or doesn’t) whenever it wants. So when an idea comes to me, I’ll mentally rehearse the painting in my head or work through the process as though I was really doing it.
Weird right? I know. But studies have been done on athletic performance and cognitive ability and it shows time after time that mental rehearsal is as valuable (or almost) , as actually training or practice. The same synapses fire, the body’s nervous system reacts and your brain and mind act as though you’re actually painting, running, rehearsing, rock climbing surfing, jumping, whatever.
I’ve seen drummer friends do this when playing drums at a restaurant or a guitarist friend playing air guitar. I’ve mentally rehearsed skate tricks that I haven’t mastered yet and have worked out complex compositions in my head before touching a brush and it works!
We’re all busy, but if you can give yourself permission to create (or practice whatever) in your imagination, you will maintain and evolve even during times of the year when you’re too busy to grab a brush.
Try this during meditation too to really step up this practice!
