Create a new way

Hello. Someone very kindly compared my posts to self help books. Wow! I am chuffed that what I consider as my simple way of looking at things, is making some sense with some readers. I don't profess to be an expert in anything, except lorry driving, ha ha, but I like to think that my experiences at the University of Life have given me the grounding that I need to live a contented and fulfilling life.

I have always liked writing, gathering together the thoughts in my head, and putting them down in some sort of order. I wasn't very bright at school, I couldn't be bothered, just about scraped through, and hoped no one noticed that I wasn't taking it all in. I was hopeless at exams and couldn't wait to leave and went at the first opportunity. So for someone to say that a post has more wisdom that ten self help books, makes me very chuffed indeed.

I am sure that many of my readers have a wisdom far beyond my own offerings, going by the comments coming in. I love the little sayings and words of wisdom that you come up with from time to time, I write them down because they trigger more thoughts and ideas which I want to hang on to. You inspire me to explore issues further, to hopefully gain a better understanding of how things fit together.

Something that N said, struck a chord, 'I always make time for things that allow my creativity.'  She was talking about learning new hobbies to distract herself from events she would rather forget about. It got me thinking about how creativity can play a key roll in how we can deal with putting the not so perfect past behind us.

The way I see it, if someone has no creative instincts at all, they mostly rely on learning from others, they see how their friends, family, and work colleagues do things, and they follow suit. This takes less effort than thinking up new ideas. It's like going down a long straight road, and ignoring all the roads off it in favour of keep going mile after mile in the same direction, with possibly no end in sight. Changing direction would require a new way of thinking. I don't know anything about how a brain works, but I reckon that if you only stuck with the road you know, always doing the same thing in the same way, then you are only using half your brain. It's a bit of a waste, not using it to it's full potential. If you are not creative, how are you going to find your way through the ups and downs of life? Relying on others to show you the way will not work, you need to be creative in thinking up new ideas, and new directions.

So, back to distraction, N could have done nothing, and gone nowhere, but she made an effort, she recognized that by allowing herself to be creative, she could move on. Creativity means going in a different direction, give yourself a good talking to, to push yourself into something outside your comfort zone. It could be something quite simple, like bake a cake if you have never made one before. Or sign up for a pottery class at college. Or taking up flower arranging. The end product of creativity is learning new skills and expanding your outlook on life. It's looking at situations from a new angle, and finding a better way to get where you want to be. Surely that's got to be a good thing. Well that's how I see it.
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