I am a creative experiment.

Tomorrow I will begin a project I've been thinking about doing for years. I am going to try to become a more creative person by completely immersing myself in creative pursuits and activities. Obviously, I can't spend every minute of every day doing something creative, but I'm going to try. I want to make this an all encompassing pursuit, from the way I dress to the games I play with my kids to how I approach work.

As an example, I did a little test drive this summer when I went golfing with a couple of old friends. When I say old, I mean I've known these guys since we were four years old, so I was in a safe place. I could basically do anything around these two fellows and they'd smile and nod. I could dance around on Main Street with a lampshade on my head and they wouldn't run for the hills. They'd watch and point and probably take a few photos for posterity, and then they'd drag me away, but they wouldn't leave me high and dry. And, I have to admit, this experiment was pretty tame. I didn't streak my hair purple and yellow, I just adjusted my golf game a little. This is how it went down; we were going golfing (the first time for me this year) and rather than bringing all my clubs along, I emptied my bag of all but three clubs: a wood, a seven iron, and a putter. The night before I'd Googled "creative golf" and some of the top results suggested playing with one or two clubs. I opted for three because I'm a bit of a chicken and one or two sounded seriously minimalistic. Three, on the other hand, seemed reasonable. I made sure to empty my bag before we left, because I knew when we got there they'd think it was a crazy idea and talk me out of it. Sure enough, when I told them I could see they thought it was crazy, and stupid to boot, but there was no turning back. 

When we arrived at the course, there were three old clubs mounted on the wall of the clubhouse: a wood, a five iron, and a putter. I figured this was a sign, even though I'd brought a seven iron rather than a five. (SEE PHOTO BELOW - It was pouring rain and early, so I don't look thrilled, but my mood improved) To give my compatriots credit, they thought it was a sign too. So, I struck out feeling good. My game wasn't great that day, but it wasn't bad and I think I probably scored about the same as I would have if I'd brought all my clubs since I was out of practice. Only having three clubs was incredibly liberating too. With a full set of clubs I would've carried around certain expectations, but with only three clubs I had no illusions I was going to shoot a low score. As a result, I ended up enjoying myself way, way more than I would have done otherwise. Without expectations dragging me down, I had more fun, I was more relaxed, and I savoured the journey rather than focusing on the end result.

Creative Lesson #1 - If you find a way to remove your expectations, you'll enjoy the journey more and you're apt to produce satisfying results.

I hope you enjoy the creative ride with me.