Social media, SEO, marketing and writingCreativity Unleashed: What Makes You Tick?
We are all creative beings. Yet, for most of us, our creative juices do not flow easily from brush to canvas, mouse to screen, or from thought to written word.
Our creative abilities are much like the muscles of an athlete. With regular use, muscles become stretched and toned. When not exercised regularly, they become flabby and weak. Similarly, when we are in touch with our creative talents and put them to use on a daily basis, our creativity flourishes. This is the challenge facing artists everywhere; discovering the creativity within and putting those talents to use.
What Makes You Tick?
As unique human beings, each of us brings to the creative table something fresh, new, and invigorating. We bring our memories, prejudices, habits, joys, sorrows, strengths, and weaknesses––the core elements that make us who we are. But who are we really? What is our agenda? What inspires us? What is our emotional make up? What makes us tick?
Deep introspection helps us flush out our personal wants, needs, desires, and shortcomings––the driving force behind our very being.
Clues which can help us unlock our own personal dramas are all around us––in our movies, theater performances, novels––even the interpersonal soap operas which unfold around the water cooler at the office.
James L. Halperin’s best-selling novel, The Truth Machine, provides us with a fine example of a character facing a powerful inner struggle. Randall Peterson Armstrong is the protagonist. He’s rich and famous, possesses a near perfect photographic memory, and runs the world’s most powerful corporation. Yet he is flawed––just like you and me. He is tormented by the death of his younger brother, Leonard. And, he hides a terrible secret that could have a profound impact on the “new world social order.” Randall’s outward appearance rarely betrays his innermost secrets, wants, and needs. But when Randall comes face to face with what makes him tick––when his inner demons collide with his outer persona––Randall must redefine his goals and aspirations so that they mirror his “reborn” self. It is in this period of “rediscovery” that readers uncover (along with Randall), exactly what makes him tick. This visceral bond between reader and protagonist is perhaps what so endears us to fictional characters we love. This is the power of deep introspection and self discovery.
So what makes you tick? You might want to start down the road of personal self discovery by asking yourself:
1. Are my current life goals superficial or are they deep and meaningful?
2. Are my dreams and aspirations attainable or purposely out-of-reach?
3. Am I proud of who I am and where I am going?
