Using your inner child for creativity

Can your inner child help you be more creative?

December 22nd, 2008

When was the last time you just sat down and started writing – let the words take you where they wanted instead of where you wanted? Adults have been taught to stay in control of their destiny, plan their next move and that each word has to mean something. Children believe that losing control is fun, planning moves is only for chess, and words can be made up.

Your inner child has a huge influence on your creativity. Without an inner child, we are all just a bunch of boring adults talking about nothing. Your inner child is the one that lets you make a joke to break the ice, write about something you are passionate and fail at a task without beating yourself up. The portrait above was created by Dan Kellner, someone I have found through the glory of social media (thank you Twitter!). His art is extremely creative and I believe this sketch captures the truth of his inner child & was my inspiration for today.

Our inner child is the little voice in our head that tells us not to take life too seriously. The little voice that we have taught ourselves to ignore. I’m a firm believer in not ignoring that voice – in fact I embrace that voice and often let it tell me where my creativity should go. Yes, my blog often takes random turns – goes from an analysis of your creative breaking point to planning an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding from a cake. But, I never started this blog to change the world. I started this blog to give myself an outlet for my creative (and yes, random) thoughts. In the process, I have gained a few readers and learned a lot about myself. And, I could have never done any of it without my inner child. She was the one that told me it was okay to fail. That writing about random creative thoughts was perfectly okay, and that if no one ever read them, it would still be a great blog. I am thankful for my inner child and the freedom she gives me.

Next time you are stuck, trying to come up with a new marketing campaign, color scheme or blog post, let your inner child out. It may just surprise you how much creativity you have inside of you.