Better the devil you know: A pre-Halloween reflection on our creative demons

Halloween is just around the corner and I’m a big fan. Yes, the dressing up is fun, but it’s more than that—it serves to remind us that humans need outlets for our darker, distorted and dangerous sides. On October 31st, society gives us permission to show (albeit in a non-threatening, theatrical way) the parts of ourselves not usually let out to play in nice company.

When it comes to our creativity, it’s no different. We’re encouraged to focus on the “good” parts of our creative process, products and mindset and lock up our less socially acceptable feelings and responses away in dark cupboards. Door shut…end of story. Well, not quite. “Therapy 101” tells us that when they’re all locked up together, these nasties fester away and leak out through the cracks. 

As a creativity coach, I hear a lot about people’s creativity monsters (although they rarely recognise them as such), and I’ve come to realise that the best way to defeat them is to identify and understand them—as they say, “better the devil you know.”

Meet Your Monsters

What creativity monsters are hiding under your bed? Here are some of the usual culprits who try to wreak havoc on our creative success. 

Madam Fear, the Shape-shifter
This lady’s the leader of the gang and controls all the other monsters. She’s the ultimate shape-shifter and is super sneaky and hard to spot because she can look like any number of things. In your creative life, she often shows up as “bad stuff,” like procrastination, laziness, severe self-criticism, overthinking, controlling, denial, arrogance, perfectionism or addiction. At other times, she’ll morph into what seems like one of the “good guys”: virtuosity, sacrifice for others, martyrdom, and so on. But beware! These disguises are devious techniques designed to distract you from connecting with your creativity. Madame Fear cannot be vanquished, so you’ll have to get used to her presence…but her power greatly diminishes when you identify her and call her out on her tricks.

The Anger Banshee
Someone’s taken credit for your work? A gallery’s ripped you off? Your laptop was stolen and it had the only copy of your manuscript? You’ll probably be visited by the Anger Banshee. Unlike Madam Fear, there’s no mistaking this wild woman. You’ll recognise her the minute she enters the room because she screams in your ear and smacks you in the chest, leaving your pulse racing and your adrenaline pumping. If you stand your ground and don’t let her take over, however, she can actually be helpful because she reveals your values, limits and boundaries. 

The Evil Jealousy Fairy
When you hear yourself thinking, “Isn’t Jane doing well with her business….why can’t I be more like her?” or “Why is Rachel getting noticed….my work is so much better than hers,” then you know the Evil Jealousy Fairy has come to play the comparison game. Her seemingly innocent whisperings in your ear are far from harmless because she never strays far from her mistress, Madam Fear (who’ll be creeping up behind you dressed as self-doubt and criticism). This insidious little imp is tricky to spot, but when you do, question her motives directly—she hates being confronted, and will quickly back down.  Enough direct contact and this nasty little nymph can be transformed into a good fairy, supporting and guiding you instead of carrying out constant comparisons.

The Pain Zombie
Like the Anger Banshee, the Pain Zombie is also hard to miss; she’s not the most subtle of creatures. The Pain Zombie will shuffle (surprisingly quickly) into your life when you’ve experienced trauma or loss of some kind. It’s very difficult to ignore all her moaning and groaning and get on with the business of your creativity when it feels like parts of you are missing. As much as you’d like to, the Pain Zombie cannot be ignored. Gentle understanding, self-care and time is the way to help heal her broken body and soul and return to life and creativity. 

The Guilt and Shame Ghost
This eerie spectre feeds on your past disappointments, regrets and mistakes. While she prefers to stay in the background, she occasionally comes out to rattle her bones and wail “Ooooooohhhhhhh” at your attempts to succeed creatively in the present and plan a creative future. She likes to remind you of past failures, and spooks you into thinking you’re future is chained down by these. Well, it’s not. As soon as you accept your skeletons in the closet for what they are (dusty old decaying remnants), then the Guilt and Shame Ghost loses her power. Let her howl away in the corner, but don’t let her haunt your dreams.

Manage Your Monsters

It’s tempting to keep the lid of our own Pandora’s Box firmly closed, but by doing this, we’re denying valid parts of ourselves that are crying out to be heard, and in turn denying ourselves opportunities to grow creatively. Any of your monsters have the power to shut down you down creatively; it’s up to you whether or not you let them do so. Here are some tricks (and treats…sorry, couldn’t resist!) to help you befriend the beasts.

Identify: As soon as you feel “badly” about your creativity, try to identify which monster(s) have come out to play.   

Understand: Notice how this monster manifests itself in your creative life. What types of behaviours does it trigger in you? Are these behaviours helpful or harmful for your creativity and yourself? Are there specific people, places or situations where the monster is more likely to turn up? Consider what purpose the monster serves; are the reasons rational or ridiculous?

Acknowledge: Allow the monster to exist…but stare it down, severely reprimand it and send it to the naughty corner, where it can watch you paint or write or sing while it sulks to its empty heart’s content.

Self-care: Look after yourself. Creativity monsters feed off fatigue and neglect and grow weaker when you take time to nurture and centre yourself. You know what to do… exercise, sleep, healthy food, social support, mindfulness and creative play time.

Here are some more resources to help you manage your monsters:
▪      The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron
▪      Fearless Creating, by Eric Maisel
▪      The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield
▪      Living with a Creative Mind, by Jeff and Julie Crabtree
▪      Mindfulness for Creativity, by Dr. Danny Penman

Happy Halloween!

Bronya Wilkins is a creativity coach and founder of Creative Cocoon, a coaching practice dedicated to helping people connect with their creativity to increase wellbeing and life fulfilment. Bronya is passionate about psychology, self-development and creative expression. Some of her creative hobbies include dance, graphic design, music composition and photography. For more about Bronya and Creative Cocoon, visit her website and Facebook page, or follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

Are you hearing (creative) voices?

We’re all familiar with the inner critic when it comes to our creative work, but what other sub-conscious voices may be impacting our creativity? I have a theory (influenced by a form of psychotherapy called transactional analysis), that we all have a bunch of internal drives or “voices” vying for our attention in our creative life (an internal dysfunctional family of sorts!).

All these creative voices have a role to play – they’re there for a reason, but frequently they work at cross-purposes creating a sort of chaotic brawl in your head, which isn’t great for your creative mindset, confidence or productivity! As a creativity coach, one of the things I can help people with is to understand their internal creative voices, and help them to play nicely with each other (sort of like family therapy!).

Here’s a quick snapshot of just some the creative voices we have sitting behind the scenes (these are just the main ones – the nuclear family, if you will).

Critic

We all know the inner critic – that loud, judgmental one making you doubt yourself. She’s linked directly with your creative confidence. It’s tempting to dismiss her entirely her, but she actually has an important role to play, and that is to keep you safe. She’s acting on a primitive level where risk equals danger, so she tries to stop you putting yourself in precarious situations (e.g. sharing your work with others where there’s a risk of social rejection).

Unfortunately, she’s not very discriminating, in that she shouts all manner of things at you - both useful critique about your work (e.g. “that paragraph doesn’t sound great - you should move it”), and judgmental, personal comments (“you’re a crap writer – what made you think you could do this!”). Coaching can help you to tune in to her constructive comments and tune out the rest. Once you turn a deaf ear to the negative white noise, you’ll find she’s actually not so bad.

Cheerleader

The opposite role to the Critic is the Cheerleader – that fearless, overly enthusiastic, and carefree voice that tells you that anything’s possible. It’s great to have her positive voice boosting your confidence, proclaiming you’ll be the next Shakespeare or Mozart, but this cheerleader doesn’t spend much time with her feet on the ground, so she’s a little out of touch with reality. Plus her rebellious streak doesn’t care much for your safety, so she’s happy to throw her weight around with little thought for consequences.

Needless to say, Inner Critic and Cheerleader are in constant battle with each other. Like the Inner Critic, her voice matters, but she should only be taken in small doses (plus she can be super annoying at times!), and balanced out with the other voices.

Child

The inner creative Child is a bit all over the place - she can whisper or yell depending on her mood. Like all the voices, your inner creative Child has two sides to her. She can be curious, playful, imaginative and energetic, for example the excited feeling when struck by inspiration, or the bursts of energy you feel when starting a new piece of work. Unfortunately she can also be moody, needy, erratic and egotistical, for example, whining that she doesn’t want to get back to work, or demanding that your partner drop all his prior commitments to pick you up a tube of paint.

There’s different ways to deal with your inner creative Child when she’s cracking it. She can be tricked or bribed into behaving, or you may want to use your inner Competitor to put her in her place.

Competitor

Your inner creative Competitor takes an opposite role to the Child – although both like to play games. Think of your Competitor like a serious athlete. On the plus side, she’s disciplined, focused, organised and hardworking – you get stuff done! She knows exactly what she wants and she’ll do anything to get it, but this level of control comes at a price. This disciplined workaholic can hinder your creative freedom, distance you from other parts of your life, or push you to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. Sometimes the inner Competitor just needs to take a chill pill.

The Competitor-Child interplay is an interesting one. When they’re both at their best, this pairing works really well – your Child helps soften your Competitor’s hard edge, and your Competitor provides the scattered Child with some much needed structure. If these two roles become unbalanced however, things can get messy!

Coach/Counsellor

Your inner Coach is the perhaps the most important role of all because she acts as a central, neutral point between the other voices. Hers is a voice of reason, empathy and objectivity. Think of her like the family therapist working with the dysfunctional family. If your inner Coach is strong, the balance between the other voices will be maintained. She’ll help to bring out their positive sides so they work together, not against each other. If however, your inner Coach is inexperienced or a bit timid, she can easily find herself overwhelmed, and won’t be able to keep the other inner voices in check. At the extreme end this could look like your Competitor coldly dictating to, and attempting to control your Child, who’s flailing around having a massive tanty.

Meanwhile your Cheerleader is running about aimlessly shouting empty motivational phrases (“You can do it – yay!”), and on the sidelines your Inner Critic is on her high horse, looking down on everyone, pointing the finger and shouting insults. Let’s not play this mental game!

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The trick with our creative voices is to listen and acknowledge them all, understand their motivations and differentiate between their constructive and destructive sides. Just like real life family members, we’re stuck with them so we need to learn to live in harmony rather than conflict.

Creativity coaching can help ensure all your voices are heard, understood and their constructive sides developed. Most importantly, creativity coaching can help build up your inner Coach so you can maintain a healthy creative life (and your sanity!).

Bronya Wilkins is a creativity coach and founder of Creative Cocoon, a coaching practice dedicated to helping people connect with their creativity to increase wellbeing and life fulfilment. Bronya is passionate about psychology, self-development, and creative expression. Some of her creative hobbies include dance, graphic design, music composition, and photography. For more about Bronya and Creative Cocoon, visit her website and Facebook page, or follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

Your creative personality type

Have you ever wondered how your personality type impacts your creativity? You’ve probably heard of the Myer’s Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)—it’s a widely used psychometric tool for assessing personality. I sometimes use it in my coaching practice to help clients make sense of their personality preferences in the context of their creative lives.

About the MBTI

The MBTI has been used for decades as a tool for enhancing self-awareness and development in business and personal life. It’s based on four dichotomies (pairings) that interact with each other to produce a total of sixteen possible personality types. The preference dichotomies are:

• Introversion (I) vs. Extraversion (E)
• Intuition (N) vs. Sensing (S)
• Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
• Perceiving (P) vs. Judging (J)

A person’s preferences will fall on one side of each dichotomy; across the four pairings this results in a “type.” For example, my type is an INFJ: Introversion/Intuition/Feeling/Judging.

While the complexity of personality can’t be explained by any single assessment, and there are some validity issues with the MBTI, I still find it a useful tool if the results are considered within a broader life context. In my experience, the MBTI genuinely helps people make greater sense of how they interact with the world and how they perceive and process information.

How does your type impact your creativity?

The realm of creativity isn’t “owned” by any one type, although some preferences may help or hinder creativity in different ways. Let’s explore some of these below.

Introversion (I) vs. Extraversion (E)

Contrary to popular belief, “introvert” doesn’t refer to a quiet, shy wallflower, but instead a person who recharges and gains energy from time alone, regardless of how outgoing or friendly she is.

When it comes to building a dedicated creative practice—something that requires a lot of focused, solitary time—introverts may have a head start. The challenge for creative extraverts is to balance social and creative time to meet both needs. Conversely, when it comes to promoting one’s creativity, extraverts’ social ease and larger networks offer more opportunities for connecting with potential collaborators and supporters, a task introverts often find daunting.

Tips:

• If you’re an extrovert, determine how much time per week to spend on your creativity and block it out in your calendar, so social events don’t creep in over the top.
• If you’re an introvert, learn ways to promote your creative practice that are more aligned with introversion, such as blogging. Also, challenge yourself to get out there as the face of your practice.

Intuition (N) vs. Sensing (S) T

he N/S dichotomy describes how we perceive and gather information. People with N preferences are described as big-picture people, abstract thinkers, people who make gut decisions. S people are more concrete and focus on details, data, and evidence; they are the “seeing is believing” type of people.

When it comes to artistic creativity, Ns are all about the expression of ideas, while Ss tend to focus on execution and craftsmanship. In coaching, N clients often need guidance with choosing ideas and implementing them consistently, whereas Ss need more help thinking “outside of the box” and “connecting the dots.”

Tips:

• If you’re an intuitive person, remember that sometimes, the devil is in the details. You may have a great idea, but if it’s executed poorly then will it be appreciated? Take time to learn your craft and hone your technique.
• If you’re a sensing person, be sure to regularly expose yourself to new and interesting people, places, and events to feed your senses and expand your creative ideas.

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F) Thinkers make decisions based on logic and facts, as opposed to feelers, who tend to decide based on feelings and perceived impacts on other people.

Because feelers perceive their art as extensions of themselves, they often get caught up in beliefs of how the world will perceive them, which can lead to fear, self-doubt, and creative blocks. Thinkers, on the other hand, tend to dissociate a little from their work and treat it like a project to be delivered, rather than an aspect of themselves. This emotional distance may make it difficult to connect with audiences—something that comes far more naturally to feelers, who are in tune with themselves and the feelings and drives of others.

Tips:

• If you’re a thinker, consider the impact your creativity and work have on other people—asking them is a good start! When sharing your work, notice how people respond to it and use that knowledge in your future projects.
• If you’re a feeler, remind yourself that creative failure doesn’t equal human failure. We all need mistakes and failures to learn and grow. Creating a bit of psychological distance between yourself and a creative work can be healthy.

Perceiving (P) vs. Judging (J) Another common misconception is the J label, which doesn’t mean that a person is judgmental. Instead, “judging” refers to the preference for closure, certainty, and organisation. Perceiving, at the opposite end, is a preference for flexibility, open-endedness, and spontaneity.

When implementing creative projects, judgers prefer a structured approach; they set goals, manage timeframes, and follow through to closure. Perceivers, on the other hand, often feel confined by plans. They tend to procrastinate and go off on tangents (albeit sometimes very interesting ones!), which can lead to half-finished projects. Because judgers are so focused on following through, however, they often fail to notice (or even dismiss) opportunities that open up along the way but feel disruptive to the original plan. Perceivers, on the other hand, are quick to recognise new sources of inspiration and information—and take advantage of them.

Tips:

• If you are a perceiver, keep in mind that while it’d be nice to use all your ideas, is it actually doable? Figure out your best ideas, focus on one thing at a time, and follow through even when you’re tempted to jump ship. Hire a coach or get a friend to support you in reaching your milestones.
• If you’re a judger, remember the John Lennon quote, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” The best plan in the world doesn’t make a project a success, so learn to tolerate more uncertainty and take advantage of new opportunities.

Creative self-development and the MBTI When developing your creative self, it’s sometimes useful to tap into one of your preferences more deeply. Other times, it’s beneficial to challenge them and try the opposite. For example, on the J/P dichotomy, I’m very strongly a J. This is great when working solo, because I know how to balance my need for structure with idea exploration, but when collaborating with others my judging tendency can stifle the creative process. I’ve learnt over time to let go and step in as the structure queen only when necessary.

What next?

• Take the MBTI
• Consider whether you’re taking full advantage of your preferences. Tap into the preferences that are working well for your creativity.
• Think about where your preferences are holding you back. Be brave and challenge yourself to move out of your comfort zone.

Bronya Wilkins is a creativity coach and founder of Creative Cocoon, a coaching practice dedicated to helping people connect with their creativity. Bronya is passionate about psychology, self-development, and creative expression. Some of her hobbies include dance, graphic design, music composition, and photography. You can find her Facebook and Twitter, or follow her on Instagram (@creativecocoon).

Allow creativity to fill the vacant spaces in your life

In my creativity coaching practice at Creative Cocoon, I’ve found that although most clients come to me for help with larger creativity projects, they often report the most significant positive change from our work integrating creativity into their everyday lives. Integrating creativity into their everyday lives—huh? What does that even mean?

Many people use the term “everyday creativity” to describe the creative thinking involved in solving everyday problems, such as using a paper clip to poke out the SIM card in your phone. I prefer to use it to refer to integrating creative and artistic thinking and expression into our daily activities, something I call micro-creativity.

What is micro-creativity? In my definition, micro-creativity refers to small, self-contained creative or expressive activities that you perform in your daily life. The main purpose of micro-creativity is to strengthen your creative habits without the anxiety often associated with larger projects. You can also think of it as creativity for creativity’s sake. Here are some examples:

• Whilst waiting for your son to get out of school, you people-watch and imagine their backstories and personalities.
• On your morning tram ride, you write short poems to express your current state of mind.
• During lunch breaks, you wander the streets and take photos of details that catch your eye.

Benefits of micro-creativity You can’t substitute all of your downtime with micro-creativity; your brain would fatigue. But sacrificing just a small chunk of mental “lazy time” each day can, I believe, result in many benefits, including:

• Increased creative problem solving. Tapping into your creativity at random times strengthens the connection between your logical and creative minds, which helps with problem solving in your work, creative, and personal lives.
• Increased self-awareness. The more you interact with your creativity, the better you understand and appreciate its existence, warts and all. Building a stronger relationship with your creativity can benefit your creative process and help you develop your sense of self.
• Increased confidence. The more you practice, the better you become. By improving skills, you gain confidence and a sense of capability in your creative life.
• Increased wellbeing. Creative self-expression without boundaries, deadlines, or judgment can help you work through personal issues and channel emotions (although self-guided creative therapy is no substitute for professional help).
• Increased discipline. Practicing daily micro-creativity gets you into the habit of regular creative expression, which can help reduce anxiety (and procrastination) around your larger creative projects.
• Increased observation skills. Micro-creativity can help improve your observational skills, which are key for creative thinking and expression.

When and how to micro-create You can micro-create whenever you have mental downtime, which means whenever your full attention is not focused on another task. Some examples include:

• Waiting in queues
• Riding public transport or as a passenger in a car
• Walking
• Taking lunch breaks
• Swimming laps or running on a treadmill
• Cleaning
• Showering or bathing
• Waiting on hold on the phone
• Resting

Micro-creativity activities are limited only by your imagination. Some examples are listed below, but be creative and make up some of your own.

• Take photos of interesting details.
• Write a poem.
• Write stream of consciousness.
• Draw or photograph self portraits over multiple days.
• Watch people and make up their backstories.
• Tune into your senses and record what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.
• Play a word game, such as a rhyming game.
• Doodle mindlessly or draw patterns.
• Record a voice memo of your observations or thoughts (as if you were a private detective).
• Imagine life from someone else’s perspective. What are they experiencing in that moment?
• Write a letter to your future self, then reply as the future self back to your present self.
• With headphones on, listen to music and imagine what the music would look like if it were a painting.

Conditions In order for your exercises to count as micro-creativity, you need to meet the following conditions:

• Don’t think, just do. Don’t overthink the activity. Tune into “doing” mode (rather than “thinking” mode) for the duration of the activity.
• Minimise judgment and pressure. Put your inner critic aside and accept whatever comes out as part of the process. There is no “good” or “bad.” To help, imagine a child has done the exercise. You wouldn’t judge her on the final work; you would simply be proud of her for putting in the effort.
• Choose your content. Work with content unrelated to your current projects to reduce the risk of anxiety. After a while, you’ll be surprised how often random creative exercises turn into something bigger or link back to a larger project.
• Keep it quick and dirty. Limit your exercises to between five and fifteen minutes. Any longer and your inner critic will step in. If it helps, set a timer. Remember, it’s the process that counts, not the result.
• Commit. Commit to at least one activity a day, even when you don’t feel like it. Routine and persistence bring the longer-term creative benefits. Think of it like brushing your teeth. If it helps, decide on a regular time and set a phone alert or calendar entry.
• Minimise distractions. Try to minimise distractions whenever possible.
• Enjoy yourself. The more you enjoy an activity, the more likely you are to continue doing it. Choose exercises that are meaningful, fun, and enjoyable.
• Change it up. Be creative and choose different activities from day to day. The examples above are just the tip of the iceberg.

Additional resources If you'd like to read more about integrating creativity into your everyday life, I recommend the following books:

• Just Do Something, by Mykel Dixon
• The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp
• How to Be an Explorer of the World, by Kerri Smith
• The Creativity Challenge, by Tanner Christensen
• Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Bronya Wilkins is a creativity coach and founder of Creative Cocoon, a coaching practice dedicated to helping people connect with their creativity to increase wellbeing and life fulfilment. Bronya is passionate about psychology, self-development, and creative expression. Some of her creative hobbies include dance, graphic design, music composition, and photography. For more about Bronya and Creative Cocoon, visit her website and Facebook page, or follow her on Instagram and Twitter.