doug smith training

Some positive phrases to energize you and your creativity: I can always think of a creative and interesting new idea My creativity makes travel a pleasure Using my creative skills helps me to do a better job People respond favorably to my creativity We all admire creative risks and it's good that I'm courageous My creativity is an always available resource My creativity makes problems easier to solve Today I will develop my creativity Creative Reflections: When was the last time you took a creative approach to a routine situation? How did it turn out? What are your three best creative opportunities for today? What will you do that's fresh and new about them today? What will you do first? -- doug smith

"Skill to do comes of doing."  -- Ralph Waldo Emerson Whether or not it's fun, we do need to practice. To gain some momentum, to grow considerable skill, to develop creativity we must work thru our mistakes, discover even more mistakes, and keep going and doing. To stretch one's self requires motion. When I toured with Child's Play Touring Theatre we worked so much, practiced our craft so consistently, that we came to believe that we could do anything on stage. As a result we would try anything and if we would sometimes make noble and glorious mistakes it was just one take out of dozens, one sketch out of hundreds, one turn out of thousands (and nothing in this sentence is hyperbole) it was one of many. Relentlessly in motion we learned, expanded, stretched, adjusted, grew Action propelled us forward. Every day our practice was to practice in earnest. And then we would practice some more. I say it to myself as much as to anyone else: be a doer. Ac

Are you a perfectionist? I can be. It can take endless revisions to reach the point of self-satisfaction with something that I'm working on. The problem is, it will never be perfect. There are no perfect processes, no perfect people, no perfect projects, no perfect products. Perfection is the ghost of an illusion too tempting to ignore but too imperfect to perfect. Creativity doesn't care. Creativity goes on. Creativity fills the gaps. Besides. Imperfect leaves room for growth. Imperfect leaves room for collaboration. Imperfect invites change. Your art is not perfect but that's OK. Make your art anyway, whatever it is. Your art is not perfect because imperfect is better. -- doug smith

Do you have a secret creative project lounging around in your imagination? I always have at least five projects floating around, just waiting to begin. We get busy and put those projects off though, don't we? What if you didn't put it off? What if you got started on the biggest of big projects? What if you launched the project to complete your masterpiece? You aren't limited to just one creative masterpiece, but your next masterpiece is there, ready and waiting for you to begin. Get creative. Get motivated. Get busy. What if you started now? -- doug smith

Affirmations are a useful development tool in many fields. Positive phrases that affirm your instant ability to be who you want to be and to do what you want to do contribute to building your success by framing your expectations, boosting your confidence, and lighting up parts of your brain that bring about the very success you are picturing. Here are some improv affirmations to help you develop your improvisation skills, creativity, and sense of artistic play: I am instantly ready to create I take all offers and make them magnificent I play with adventure and creativity I am completely tuned in to the people I perform with Every moment sends opportunities for creative play I connect in meaningful ways with other artists I bring instant insights to the people I play with I can work hard and play both simultaneously and instantly I see the drama in every circumstance I thrive on the ideas of others I offer everyone great ideas of my own Trying a few affirmations each da

It's In The Water One of my favorite creative outlets is making collages. I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. Most of them are done on 8 1/2 by 11" notebook paper, frequently as a page in a journal. This one, for instance, is page 199 of my journal #39, Creative Play (2006-2007). You can spark your own creativity by making a collage. All you need is a healthy supply of magazines, paper, and your favorite glue (I use good old-fashioned white Elmer's glue.) Allow plenty of time -- it's not unusual for me to take all day on one collage. I find it meditative, relaxing, and inspiring. Many ideas float to the surface once you've smoothed the waters in a calm search for interesting combinations of images. Give it try. -- doug smith

Are you in charge of your creativity? Do you play with new ideas, new textures, new techniques? Your creativity is yours to manage and it's also in your hands, literally. From another angle: your hands create. Think about a sculptor at work, her hands carefully forming her art. Her mind is completely engaged, maybe even in a flow, and her hands instinctively, creatively, know what to do. That only comes after hours of practice. Think about a concert pianist: the mind is involved, the heart is involved, and the hands are doing far more than running thru the paces of mechanical memory. The hands are creating tone, inflection, articulation, emphasis, texture, stylization, and yes even emotion. The hands add what the brain hasn't even imagined until it hears it coming straight from the hands. That level of synthesis only comes after many hours of practice. Name the format and the hands are there -- not just as a set of useful tools but also as generators of inspired cre

What is your most powerful tool for change? Planet Energy 6 How do you break the constraints that stand in your way when you're looking for improvement? Creativity, your power to "bring into existence" (Merriam Webster online) is your own personal engine of growth. Movement in the direction of something new, expansion, birth, novelty, change -- are all variations of your ability to create and are all critical to the optimal state of balance and health. Got a problem? Use creative thinking to explore possible solutions. Launching a business? Discover creative ways to reach markets and satisfy customers. Getting in shape? Keep it interesting and customized to your individual needs creatively. Make it new, make it fresh, make it cool. Starting a relationship? Crete ways to interest the other person and listen and watch for what is distinctive and creative about the other person. Try new things, go new places, eat new foods, create new connections. Creativit

Expand your view. Let go of preconceptions. Wiggle loose your perceptions long enough to visualize more, ever more, possibilities. Are you locked into your thinking? Is your mind made up on certain concepts, designs, beliefs? It's easy to slip into a comfortable certainty about what we believe and to then accept that as absolute truth. How would we even know if absolute truth was absolute? What if we tested our beliefs? What if we did learn about opposite points of view? What if we did explore ideas that were radically different than our own? If our own truths are truly absolute, couldn't they withstand the most probing scrutiny and the most rigorous doubts? And if our beliefs are valid beyond doubting then couldn't they emerge confident after wandering through some divergent paths? What if we let down our guard and listed openly to a new idea? What if our version of the truth is incomplete and could benefit from cranking open the windows and breathing s