Creative Cross Training
“DO WHATEVER BRINGS YOU TO LIFE, THEN. FOLLOW YOUR OWN FASCINATIONS, OBSESSIONS, AND COMPULSIONS. TRUST THEM. CREATE WHATEVER CAUSES A REVOLUTION IN YOUR HEART.”
– ELIZABETH GILBERT, BIG MAGIC
WHAT IS CREATIVE CROSS TRAINING?
Creative cross training is basically like regular cross training! When a runner is training for a marathon, they usually spend a couple days a week doing cross training, meaning they spend time cycling, swimming or doing some other type of workout. This training allows their body’s muscles to be activated in healthy ways that are different than just running. It helps other muscles get a workout, and prevents the muscles and joints they use for running from getting too fatigued.
The same theory can be applied to other disciplines! Creative cross training is when a creative person explores creative outlets outside their normal practices so that they can see things in a new way and not become fatigued of their regular creative practices!
HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES:
Graphic designers may benefit from taking up a hands on visual art like drawing, painting or sculpting, allowing them to think more dimensionally and prevent them from getting fatigued from working on a screen or in two dimensions.
Writers may learn an instrument or spend time singing to help them expand their ideas of aural communication and give their mind a break from vocabulary and syntax.
Photographers may take up woodworking or some kind of hands on design to give them a different view on whatever they are photographing, this way they can come back behind the lens with fresh eyes, appreciating things they may not have seen before.
WHY IS IT EFFECTIVE?
Taking up a new creative practice (especially one very different from you usual) can allow your mind to have a chance to think in a different dimension. For example, focusing on texture when you normally focus on color can open whole new realms of possibility in your field and help you think outside the boxes you may not realize your practices have put you in.
Taking up other creative practices can also activate senses you may be neglecting! Maybe cooking can activate your sense of smell or taste and inspire you in ways writing or drawing cannot.
Even when we don’t notice it happening, our creative practices usually come prepackaged with a set of parameters. Music comes from an instrument, graphic design happens on a computer or painting belongs on a canvas or paper. While these are socially acceptable, they could be limiting your creativity! Other arts can help us experiment and explore in our own creative journeys.
Other creative disciplines can open your eyes to new and exciting creative inspiration! Just the way you’re inspired by those who create in your own field, you can be inspired by those in other creative fields. This may lead you to totally new arenas of inspiration, or it could help you explore entirely new styles or experiences.
HOW CAN YOU START TRAINING TODAY?
Consume
Start following people on instagram who you wouldn’t normally, watch a show that explores a realm of creativity you’re not normally immersed in (cooking, interior design, architecture), consciously choose some music to listen to or buy a book on something you feel you might be interested in.
Take a class
There are a lot of low cost (or even free) classes around. Right now Skillshare or Lynda are great resources online (or even youtube tutorials!), but look out in your community for free or inexpensive classes in the future, you’ll see there is a lot going on around you when you start looking.
Buy a kit
A lot of craft stores (Joann, Michaels, Blick or Hobby Lobby) sell kits that have everything you need to get started on a new creative hobby.
Ask a friend
Or someone you follow on instagram. People love to talk about and share what they do. Ask for some tips as a hobbyist and see what they have to say! This also is great for fostering creative community, because you probably have a lot to share with them as well.
Just try it out!
Not sure how to paint/draw/write/cook/sculpt/play guitar? Just try it! Not every creative venture has to produce some great masterpiece. There is so much beauty and learning in the process, and even if no one ever sees what you create, it is producing greatness within you!