What is Your Creative Outlet?

Mia Wasikowska is a young actress who plays in the newest adaptation of Jane Eyre, but whom you might also know from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland or from The Kids Are All Right. She is profiled in the current edition of Time Magazine in a piece by Mary Pols. I was intrigued when I read that:

"While filming Jane Eyre, she picked up one of her mother's old cameras (her parents are fine-art photographers) and started chronicling life on set." The pictures she takes "feel like a portal to a secret world, the strange land Wasikowska has chosen as her home." (...) "If there is one piece of advice I'd give to young actors, it is to have another thing that you can do that you can control and that is your own creative outlet," Wasikowska says. "Acting is creative, but there is so much of it that isn't up to you."

Mia's example speaks for itself: even successful, creative people find themselves drawn to things outside of their day-to-day work environment. It has something to do with ownership, being in control, and being able to truly express yourself. For those who tend to work on long term projects, it might also be about immediate gratification, accomplishing something short term. Finally, it is a great stress reliever. Needless to say, we all need one from time to time.

The subject of having a creative outlet is important to me, and, being an Executive Coach, one that I encourage my clients to discover and embrace. Like Mia, I personally use many different creative outlets. In my case it is mainly photography - I usually have a camera glued to my hand. But at other times I make art with my kids and take time to analyze it afterwards, or I do a Vision Board Session (I have a specially designed process that makes it a creative experience, repeated once a quarter), or I just do some journaling and now blogging, which allows me to channel all the reading I do. Another big passion of mine is interior design.

That is why I decided to frequently blog about creativity. I don't know yet where this is going to take me, but I'm sure it will be interesting.  Please stay tuned.

To read more on the subject of creativity, the need to embrace it, and ways to find some specific ideas for nurturing your inner artist, please check out A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.   

ELLE DECOR