60-second Creativity Workout

The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. Florida is said to be its location, and stories of the fountain are some of the most persistent legends associated with that state. No wonder so many retirement communities exist there. A long standing belief is that Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth when he traveled to present-day Florida in 1513, but this concept did not start with him, nor was it unique to the New World. Tales of healing waters date back to the ancients. Immortality is a gift frequently sought in mythic stories of treasures such as the philosopher's stone, universal panaceas, and the elixir of life.

While our modern economy profits from the cult of youth, what is really needed as we age to remain energized and vital is to tap our inner fountain of creativity. This energy is free, refreshing and always available. To access it only requires an attitude of tinkering, discovery, and play.

In our outer-oriented, materially focused society, imaginative play is too often put aside, confined to the weekend, or left to “creative types.” But when we become too serious and overly dutiful, our work and life become dry, boring, and unspired. Under the weight of duties and responsibilities, our inner creative energies can be gradually squeezed out of us. Yet this irrepressible youthful quality lives within each of us, at least as a potential.

In the spirit of play we may toss together elements that were formerly separate. To play is to foster richness of response, to reinterpret reality, to experience life in unforeseen ways. Imaginative play is different from an organized game, such as football or a symphony, which has rules and a definite goal. When we watch professional sports on television, we see a highly constricted form of play; even amateur sports increasingly seem to be motivated less by “love of the game” than by a display of pride or greed.

Imaginative play is a divine quality that you can bring to anything, an attitude and a presence rather than a defined activity. When play is free, and not choreographed by some existing rules or regulations, it is ambiguous, exciting, risky, and open to new possibilities.

We all know people and institutions that do not age gracefully. Some trade youthful enthusiasm for what society calls ‘responsibility’ and become reactionary, defensive, and stiff – cut off from the creative spirit of creation. Far too many old people become hypochondriacs, pedants, or applauders of the past as substitutes for the broadening of the self that is called for as we age. The instinctive youthful creative energy must be cultivated in the second half of life, or we can easily become morally rigid, dogmatic, judgmental, and authoritarian.

Interestingly, our religious traditions inform us that this playful access to creativity is essential throughout life: We are told only those who “become as little children” can enter the kingdom of heaven. In psychological terms this means that we will not experience the divine aspects of life without a childlike, lighthearted quality in our efforts.

Any human ability atrophies when it is not used. Your imaginative capacities, like your physical muscles, require exercise to get back or stay in into optimal shape. Here is a 60-second exercise. It can be practiced at any time during your day, to help get your imaginative power back into shape. By practicing it you will bring more creativity, flexibility and fun to your work and your life.

Close your eyes and visualize a pen slowly writing your name on a blackboard. Now try visualizing some different shapes: a triangle, then a square, and then a circle. Now visualize the face of a loved one. Next hold in your mind’s eye the image of a favorite place you have visited in nature.

Next, imagine touching one at a time: the rough surface of concrete, a feather, the cool water of a mountain stream, a silk scarf. In your imagination, experience the taste, temperature and texture of: ice cream, one raisin, a peanut, a ripe peach, and a chili pepper.

Now imagine that you smell: a rose, fresh cookies, an ocean breeze, popcorn. Then, with your eyes closed, imagine you can hear: someone calling your name, rain on the roof, an ambulance siren, people talking in a restaurant, a tiny bell.

Don’t worry that entertaining “irrational” or downright silly energies will unseat your personality. When you allow these unlived potentials to become conscious it actually increases your integration, your creativity, and your vibrant feelings of being alive.