by: LeonardoTrait
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Practicing Valuing Your Creativity

Is that a grammatical sentence? I\'m not sure. But it works, right? It\'s not too . . . creative?

Learning to value our own creativity is a difficult journey for most of us. I know it was for me.

I decided at 19 that I wanted to be a writer.

Every year or so thereafter, for about a decade, I decided I couldn\'t do it.

It wasn\'t the writing that bothered me. I can write just about anything, given time and research material. One friend of mine says, \"Give you a topic sentence and an outline and you\'re good to go.\"

No, I can write. Writing has never been the problem.

The problem is *being a writer.* Because writers have to self-promote. People don\'t generally come poking through your desk drawers wanting to know if you\'ve written anything good. At least, they don\'t poke through mine. Maybe Stephen King\'s desk drawers get poked. But not Angie Dixon\'s.

I\'ve basically found three things important in learning to value my creativity.

1. Realize that being proud of your work is not the same as being prideful.

This is a very important distinction. When we were taught growing up not to be boastful, most of us learned to not be overly, or publicly, proud of what we\'d done.

You know, I really don\'t think that\'s what our parents meant to teach us. I think they wanted us to know we were wonderful, creative people who could do anything we wanted. They just a) didn\'t want us to be boastful because it hurts other people and b) wanted us to be able to get along with everyone else.

It\'s okay to think you\'re good at something. It\'s even better to know you are.

2. Practice being proud of yourself.

This really does take some practice. I find it helps to just keep practicing with one really good piece of work, and come back to it daily for a week, two weeks, whatever it takes to really absorb how good it is.

When I wrote my first novel, I had to really remind myself that writing a novel was a remarkable thing. No one I knew had written a novel. Each accomplishment regarding the novel was an opportunity, as I saw it, to remind myself of my creativity.

Recently I designed a board game. It\'s not completely finished; I still have to write most of the trivia questions. But it\'s the most amazing thing I\'ve ever done. I still dwell on that, from time to time. Sometimes I just take it out and admire it. It\'s fantastic, and I deserve to realize that.

Which brings me to the third thing I use in my practice.

3. Pretend someone else did what you\'ve done, and heap praise on it.

Sometimes it\'s hard to praise our own work. But if you can step away and praise it as if it were something done by your best friend or your daughter, it\'s easier to realize how really remarkable it is.

I am firmly convinced, and always will be, that we need to value, even cherish, our innate, everyday creativity.

[End of Part 3, End of article]

About the Author

Angie Dixon is a creativity expert and author of The Leonardo Trait: Living the Multipassionate Life. Get a free creativity kit at LeonardoTrait.com. Contact Angie at mailto:angie@LeonardoTrait.com

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Cherish Your Everyday Creativity - Part 3 Let's talk about what to do with all this information.<br /> <br /> Practicing Valuing Your Creativity<br /> <br /> Is that a grammatical sentence? I'm not sure. But it works, right? It's not too . . . creative?<br /> <br /> Learning to value our own creativity is a difficult journey for most of us. I know it was for me.<br /> <br /> I decided at 19 that I wanted to be a writer. <br /> <br /> Every year or so thereafter, for about a decade, I decided I couldn't do it.<br /> <br /> It wasn't the writing that bothered me. I can write just about anything, given time and research material. One friend of mine says, \"Give you a topic sentence and an outline and you're good to go.\"<br /> <br /> No, I can write. Writing has never been the problem.<br /> <br /> The problem is *being a writer.* Because writers have to self-promote. People don't generally come poking through your desk drawers wanting to know if you've written anything good. At least, they don't poke through mine. Maybe Stephen King's desk drawers get poked. But not Angie Dixon's.<br /> <br /> I've basically found three things important in learning to value my creativity.<br /> <br /> 1. Realize that being proud of your work is not the same as being prideful.<br /> <br /> This is a very important distinction. When we were taught growing up not to be boastful, most of us learned to not be overly, or publicly, proud of what we'd done. <br /> <br /> You know, I really don't think that's what our parents meant to teach us. I think they wanted us to know we were wonderful, creative people who could do anything we wanted. They just a) didn't want us to be boastful because it hurts other people and b) wanted us to be able to get along with everyone else.<br /> <br /> It's okay to think you're good at something. It's even better to know you are.<br /> <br /> 2. Practice being proud of yourself.<br /> <br /> This really does take some practice. I find it helps to just keep practicing with one really good piece of work, and come back to it daily for a week, two weeks, whatever it takes to really absorb how good it is.<br /> <br /> When I wrote my first novel, I had to really remind myself that writing a novel was a remarkable thing. No one I knew had written a novel. Each accomplishment regarding the novel was an opportunity, as I saw it, to remind myself of my creativity.<br /> <br /> Recently I designed a board game. It's not completely finished; I still have to write most of the trivia questions. But it's the most amazing thing I've ever done. I still dwell on that, from time to time. Sometimes I just take it out and admire it. It's fantastic, and I deserve to realize that.<br /> <br /> Which brings me to the third thing I use in my practice.<br /> <br /> 3. Pretend someone else did what you've done, and heap praise on it.<br /> <br /> Sometimes it's hard to praise our own work. But if you can step away and praise it as if it were something done by your best friend or your daughter, it's easier to realize how really remarkable it is.<br /> <br /> I am firmly convinced, and always will be, that we need to value, even cherish, our innate, everyday creativity.<br /> <br /> [End of Part 3, End of article] Angie Dixon is a creativity expert and author of The Leonardo Trait: Living the Multipassionate Life. Get a free creativity kit at <a href=\"http://www.LeonardoTrait.com\">LeonardoTrait.com</a>. Contact Angie at mailto:angie@LeonardoTrait.com