Christmas, is, I find, an interesting time of year for the self-developer. Some of us grumble about it, moan that it’s a distraction from work, a waste of time, a season for people who have nothing better to do. However, the remaining, I’ll admit myself included, can’t help but fall for the season. The break. The colors. The turkey.

But whichever side you stand, love or hate, one thing cannot be argued. And that’s that Christmas is fundamentally, a child’s season. And a season in which we are also most creative according to Eastern Wisdom.

So what does this, have to do with you?

From the title, don’t assume that I’m telling you to put Lego on your Christmas list. I’m not. Though, if that’s what pleases you, by all means go ahead!

In this post, my only aim is to present to you, as a fellow creative figure, why I think youth should be considered a valuable tool rather than a flaw in the creative process. I’ll also include ways in which you can apply your inner child to everyday life.

Because the truth is that out Childhood is not quite as short-lived as we think, and it’s a valuable asset that, when channeled, can be used to broaden the mind’s spectrum. This is particularly useful when gathering ideas in winter, because it is believed that the brain is most receptive to the stimuli it is greeted with at this time.

Our Generation: What we’re doing wrong…

So if our youth still lives on in the most creative of us. Why do we consider it, so short-lived?

Because our Creative side is sensitive, and as we grow older, it doesn’t desert us, we are just less and less free to risk the mistakes of such spontaneity without a downfall to follow. Our inner child, however deep it’s forced down, won’t fight when we bury it under all the concrete things that we call features of adulthood.

And yet, we don’t fuel our kids enough today.

We pump them, and let ourselves be pumped, with a fear of the unknown, telling them and ourselves that the only way forward in life is through study and work and money.

What we should be doing is surrounding them with the stimuli they need to discover, and that’s what you should be doing too. Undoing this mindset and going back to thinking without restrictions.

As creators, our job is much the same as a child’s; to discover and make sense of what we see. So why are we so focused as creators on boxing our talents into endless to-do lists? The same reason that you’re Mother discouraged you from playing with boxes that packaged your Christmas toys. You’re not doing what everyone else, is doing.

Understand this: Not doing, what everyone else is doing is not a bad thing…

When you’re a child, you learn through play and discovery. The bonus of this is the stimuli. You’re presenting your brain with the freedom to think and create what it pleases; thus letting yourself outside of the boxes that we push ourselves into.

The only thing that should change as you grow older is your growing ability to juggle playing hard with working hard, so that you can turn these ideas into something great.

Walt Disney is one of my favorite examples of youth in adulthood. He stood out from the crowd even in Primary school and was often found drawing cartoon characters instead of doing his schoolwork in class.

The difference between Disney and another unknown artist of the time isn’t particularly skill that both men displayed, but the fact that this side of him, the youthful side, the side that thought differently to his classmates, was free and fuelled and formed the fundaments for ideas that this other artist may not have dared risk.

This mind-set carried into his adulthood. He painted the military ambulance in which he worked with cartoon animals, dared to take risks in the field of animation, and through his youth came his natural urge to discover and take chances In lifestyle and creation.

How can you channel your inner childhood?

1) Think Outside the Box…

Having no restrictions to what you create, will eventually develop a much more flexible mindset by nature. And thus, much more flexible and unique ideas.

Sometimes, our adult brain argues that this isn’t so good. Particularly when we have a specific aim or deadline to meet, but I think, if you can combine the two, you can create something that plays on the best of both worlds.

When brainstorm an idea, take a risk, let yourself go and consider every idea that comes to you to as a potential EUERKA moment. Nancy Yi Fan’s bestselling Swordbird book series came as a product of a dream, as many great novels do; an example of a EUREKA moment.

This was the child in Fan, who was just ten at the time, releasing her imagination.

Because who knows what value that apple has, until it’s fallen from your head to the ground?

However, we mustn’t always focus on our youthful side during the production process. This is where our adulthood must kick in, the discipline. As a young creator, the adult in Fan, saw opportunity for that idea to become something greater. And she worked at it.

It was this logic that brought the ideas to life. What I’m saying to you, is yes to play hard. But work hard to. The best of both worlds.

2) Take Delight in the simplest of things…

Yes, box-syndrome is annoying. But the truth is that it makes sense to use our fundaments to create bigger things. Perhaps not a ship, a castle or a rocket, but a novel, a play, or a piece of art instead.

The best ideas are the ones that stem from a passion. A child does what it does, to please itself. It does what it does because it loves what it does.

If you can echo similar fundaments, you can’t go wrong. Because what your doing will always inspire, amazing and excite you, thus making you more willing to do the work part.

3) Be Selfish…

Talk to people and see things from other perspectives, but also learn to ignore the people around you sometimes. One of the fatal mistakes we inject our children with (along with an over emphasis on schooling) is sharing. Sounds harsh, but the truth is that you won’t get anywhere if you keep stepping aside, using other people’s ideas.

4) Take Risks, and Have Fun Taking Them…

Don’t be afraid to break lifestyle boundaries. If you’re young you look for a world outside education. You can create a rocket from a box. You understand that no-one sees what you see, and that this is okay.

All of these qualities will take you from being a creative person, a writer, an artist, to a great creative person, a great writer, a great artist, because the best ideas are the unique ones.

Thinking differently in your ideas, will rub off onto the ways in which you approach your lifestyle. And a unique lifestyle will give you more unique ideas – see how the cycle works?

Take your risks, with the confidence of a child, and enjoy the journey… even if it leads to failure!

5) Have a Core…

But always remember the mothers who worked extra time and pumped along the streets on the weekend for you to unwrap their presents on Christmas morning… and play with the box.

Always have a safe base, a meaning behind your work, and something stable to support your creations. If you can manage all this then I have no doubts that inspiration will be knocking on your door to give you a New Year’s Kiss.

Wrote by Aimee Hall