A George Harrison Inspired Challenge for Enhancing Creativity

​I have the book The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp, very near me in my office at all times. It has offered me inspiration on several occasions. Mostly, it has provided me with specific actions to take to transform my way of thinking and being, allowing me to step away from doing things the way I always do them, therefore opening up my mind to try something new. These actions have helped me get through proposals to potential clients, problem-solving marketing issues for current clients, and even coming up with ideas for growing my own business. Because I have found this book to be an invaluable resource over the years, I am compelled to share with you one of my favorite passages from this book. So, I ask you to "Give Yourself a Little Challenge"...

​Page 114, section 14, is titled "Give Yourself a Little Challenge." It reads: 

"George Harrison once decided, as a game, to write a song based on the first book he saw at his mother's house. Picking up at random, he opened it and saw this phrase 'gently weeps,' whereupon he promptly wrote his first great song, 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps.' You can give yourself the same kind of challenge whatever medium you work in: paint only in shades of green; write a story without using the verb 'to be'; film a ten-minute scene nonstop with one camera. Giving yourself a handicap to overcome will force you to think in a new and slightly different way which is the prime goal of scratching." For Twyla, scratching is where creativity begins and she puts it as, "...the moment where your ideas first take flight and begin to defy gravity." 

I strongly urge you to take on this challenge. Let it help you relieve the grip of the mundane, elevating you to a place of curiosity and creativity. Use it to finish that project you started but can't seem to finish. Let it inspire action or provoke the urge to serve in your community. Let it move you out of stagnation and propel you to new heights. 
 
To learn more about Twyla Tharp's creative habit, I encourage you to get the book.  

Finally, if you try this challenge, please share your story here. I'd love to hear from everyone on what they did and how it worked out for them. 

Here's to your illumination!