The author Felicia Day’s approach to embracing our weirdness centers around self-actualization, which is one of the overlooked yet the most important skills anyone can develop. In this context, ‘Embrace Your Weird’ is much more than a book about creativity. It’s a book about self-discovery that sets us on the path to weirdly creative originality.
The more ruthless we can be in identifying what makes us feel, the better for our creativity.
We’re all creative by nature, regardless of our inborn talents.
We drive the car. Our interests and talents are just the vehicles.
We’re all born in fog. It helps to imagine yourself in the map of a video game As we grow, we have two choices: either remain in our little circle or set out to explore our self-maps until we uncover where we feel most creative. Which one would you rather take?
Let your inner child play again, without boundaries and pressures.
That feeling we had when we created as kids with no goal in mind, no fear of failure, no self-criticism? That is the feeling we want to capture to make creativity happen.
Film yourself for 5 minutes to see who you really are.
Then put your phone somewhere and forget about it. Now watch the video. Try to see objectively and you’ll pick up the details you wouldn’t normally notice in your everyday self. Now answer:
- What surprises you about this person?
- What’s something you see that you love about this person?
- What’s something about this person you’d like to change?
Nothing in the crowd ever stands out.
No video ever went viral because people thought, “Gee. I’ve seen that so many times before, so let me share it with everyone I know.” Our weirdness are the most fertile places to start when we want to create.
We don’t have a right to force people to hand us what we want.
But we have every right to devote ourselves to the process of the dream itself.
Anxiety has almost the same body state as excitement, except for one difference.
We invite anxiety whenever we focus on how things could go badly rather than well.
Everything creative starts sloppy, terrible and raw.
Perfectionism is a lie that there’s only one right solution. If you’re stuck on a painting, take a sketch pad and draw 20 iterations until you move past the point you’re stuck. If you’re writing a novel, write a paragraph 10 different ways and then keep writing.
“Creativity like the messiness of raising a pet or a child. We must guide our work and sculpt it as it grows, teach it not to run out into the street and get hit by a car.”
Looking back helps, if you don’t take it personally.
Everything that has happened in our lives is so that we can get to the place we are right now. And that is the place that leads us to where we need to go next.
When you feel jealous of successful people, remember there’re two sides to every story.
Ask yourself “Am I willing to endure as many downs as the person we’re jealous of did to earn their ups? Do some research. Read the biographies of successful people. Listen to their talks. You’ll come to realize what their daily life really looks like.
On-the-job training is the best experience you can get.
Whether painting, crafting or web design, when our bodies are involved in the creative process rather than the theory of it, we learn the most.
When it comes to advice, give less and take more.
Tame the advice monster inside you. Understand that every person you’ll ever encounter knows something you don’t.
Impose limitations to encourage innovation.
If you let people create under resource constraints, chances are you’ll be surprised by how likely they are able to think outside the box and come up with something new and original.
We can finish a book but walk around doing nothing.
That’s the classic self-help afterglow and that feeling lasts may be a month. So, let’s actually do something with our creativity by focusing on one goal at a time. It’s time to let yourself run free in that biggest playground of yours – your mind.