how often do our words insidiously undermine our creativity?

day 6/31: speaking kindly, and speaking in order to change our thinking and doing!

Bonsoir mes amis.

A late one from me today, but an important one. Scroll down for the video 🍿

Have you ever caught yourself saying something like this: “Yeah I love to write, but I haven’t ever written a big novel. I paint, but it’s just a hobby. I make collages, but they’re just silly little things.”

How often do you undermine your creativity through the words you speak?

Language is powerful, and it shapes our actions, thoughts, and worlds.

Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality.Language creates the reality it describes.

Desmond Tutu

It's day 6 of the august challenge, 31 days of tips, tasks and resources for creatives.

(And by the way, if you find any of these little reflections helpful or know someone who might then please do go ahead and forward it on)

There’s two things I want you to think about today:

1. The power of self-talk.

   Different to the voice inside your head, this is speaking out loud to yourself freely. I talk out loud to myself ALL THE TIME. (Top tip. Stick headphones on and you look like you’re on the phone, or record your own voice note diary).

   People say they can ‘speak things into existence’ and they’re kind of right… Hear me out. You might have heard of affirmations: Repeating positive truths to yourself out loud. Well, speaking out loud as a method of clarifying thoughts, problem solving, and motivating oneself, isn't a newfangled idea. In fact it’s as old as the Ancient Greeks. More recently, in an 1805 essay, German writer Kleist says that speech transforms the vague nebulous thoughts we have into concrete ideas, suggesting that speech generates thought rather than the other way around.

   “Ideas come with speaking.”

   In other words, we can speak our way into thinking and doing differently.

   Read this for more: https://psyche.co/ideas/talking-out-loud-to-yourself-is-a-technology-for-thinking

   So start to let your mind wander, speak out loud, stay present, and stay reflective. People talk about how helpful it is to ‘get things out into the open’ but you don’t need anyone else around you to do this. Speak out loud and reflect on the positive, the negative, and the bizarre. I also find that when you say negative things about yourself or others out loud they don’t have the same weight and they’re easier to move on from. Saying positive things out loud is affirming and encouraging. Win win. Give it a go.

2. When you’re doing this, what simple word swaps can you start making? My favourites are swapping ‘but’ for ‘and’, and ‘I need to’ to ‘I get to’.

   “Yeah I love to write, and I’d love to work on a novel”

   “I paint, and it’s my favourite hobby.”

   “I make collages, and they bring me a lot of joy”

   So much more enthusiastic and encouraging, and probably more truthful. Using "and" instead of "but" when describing our creativity helps us value our own gifts more positively. Don’t fall into the trap of undermining your joy and abilities. That only makes it harder to keep going when the going gets tough.

Talk to yourself today, and tomorrow. Because by speaking out loud and reflecting on the words we choose to say, we can create a more encouraging and constructive inner dialogue.

Tomorrow let's talk about the fear of failure and perfectionism… Okay byeeee.

ps. If you want every task this month in your inbox make sure you’re signed up below 👇🏻

And who am I? That’s one secret you’ll never know, xoxo.. just kidding.

I'm Phoebe, I’m passionate about helping individuals and communities integrate art and creativity sustainably into their li

ves because I KNOW the positive impacts can be world-changing and powerful. With a Fine Art degree and over 8 years of experience in the art world I've been watching this world from all sides. Outside of my 9-5, I coach artists to find purpose, balance, connection, and excitement in their practice and lives. A challenge like this is as much for me as anyone else, as I continue to refine my own multidisciplinary creative practice.