Heartfelt - Exploring Your Writing Through Your Senses

Creativity comes to us in many forms. We are born with talent, or we earn it through study and diligence. But most artists know that training alone will not give you inspiration. It comes from many places. Senses help us navigate the world and provide us with enough stimulation and inspiration to make a lifetime habit of our art. What wakes you up in the middle of the night with a burst of an idea? Have you ever had a feeling so deep that it compelled you to your computer or canvas? One advantage of being an artist is being in touch with our intuitive nature. We have developed our senses so we can be fine-tuned to the inspiration that is all around us.

You can’t escape the need to follow a creative urge. The impulses that drive creativity can come in many shapes. Trusting the promptings that intuition gives you can lead to unexpected creative surprises. I know some of my best writing comes when I trust my gut and write with my heart.

Consider that each sense has an intuitive aspect. The force that drives you to the bakery and the smell of apple pie that reminds you of your first taste becomes the catalyst for a great article on food. Hearing a splendid piece of classical music can inspire you to paint the best painting you have ever done. Intuition can be a little more ephemeral, but it is powerful. Intuition prompts you through the senses to lead you to the unfolding of a wonderful work of art.

What steps can you take to develop your intuition?

Discover your feelings

We live in a busy, chaotic world. All the busyness distracts us from our genuine feelings. Being an artist prompts us to be in tune with our feelings and the world. If we limit our feelings, we could limit our art. Imagine an artist who only paints in black and white not because he is making an artistic statement but because he refuses to step outside his artistic and emotional comfort zone. As an artist, you a certain style and still explore something different. Explore your feelings, the good and the bad ones. Meditate — allowing your mind to quiet. Meditation can focus your thoughts and get you more in tune with your feelings and your senses.

Trust your feelings

Sometimes we avoid our feelings because they are difficult to deal with. They can lead us to some extraordinary insights and our greatest works of art. Intuition can come from many directions. But it can be the funny feeling that settles in your gut. A strange sensation may make you go for the extra doughnut, but you sit at your computer and work on that great American novel.

Follow your yearnings

Ever had the desire to go buy a set of crayons? Did a thought of starting to play the harmonica suddenly strike you during a staff meeting? Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with a perfect poem spilling out of you? These creative urges are the prompting of your intuitive nature. Follow them.

Creative writing prompts: Follow your wild side

• Explore your senses: eat, drink, and be creative.

• Trust your intuitive side, the side that asks you to be just a little wild. Follow those yearnings that have you pick up a box of crayons. The art does not have to be great. Play.

• Trust your creative side. Be the wonderful artist that you are right at this moment. Enjoy life and all the wonderful things it offers.

Photo by Jen Theodore

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