One of my favorite things about being a poet, a writer, and from time to time, a visual artist, is the joy of creativity. Legit, as cheesy as that may sound, I love the rush of new ideas, the playful fun of exploring something my mind puts together, the connections that send my imagination into warp drive.

I’m not sure there are more things, this close to work, that’s as fun as the art and craft of learning how to be more creative.

So, when I sat down with the simple desire to really tackle this subject, I thought, where better to begin than to ask the obvious: How do you feed your imagination? How exactly do you become more creative?

Carly Schwartz writes:

Like mastering any skill, becoming more creative takes practice. It’s important to engage in regular habits that both directly and indirectly allow you to cultivate creativity. Activities that help prime the brain for creative thinking, such as meditation, yoga, reading fiction and surrounding yourself with people who inspire you, are just as important as creativity exercises themselves, be them prototyping or problem-solving.

There’s power in the word practice. Buried down deep in its concept, its idea, and its essence is this release from the chains of perfection. Embrace the rawness of your growth and all the potential that lives there. You might make a mess of things, and you might grow if you let yourself. Just keep this in mind, it’s all practice if you let it be.