Day 66: From the “Concept”

Day 66.  Since the economic downturn in the Fall of 2008, I too often got stuck, felt paralyzed and powerless in life by thinking that I was missing what I needed to create, whether it was the necessary cash, willpower, resources, funding, equipment, crew, skills, support, inspiration, motivation, meaning, encouragement or passion.  “I can’t do that because I don’t have this.”  “As soon as I get this, I will do that.”  “Once FILL IN THE BLANK happens, I’ll start—or finish.”  It was always something I didn’t have that stopped me, slowed me down and kept me from creating or completing my creation.

The lid was randomly blown off this limited thinking “box” I existed in when I unexpectedly found myself living in New York City for three weeks in August of 2011.  I kept encountering people who were not only fearless but also free from limited thinking.  They were creating from practically nothing and in their haste and imperfections they were brilliantly illuminating.  Those encounters caused a domino effect.  I then began to think of the incredible creators in my life that, against all odds, were already creating regardless of the challenging economic times—from plays to movies, to schools, to restaurants, to health, to positive change in their lives.  My heart opened, my mind moved and the city’s energy, spirit, people, and possibilities coupled with all the inspiring creators in my life who were already creating no matter what, brought on my epiphany:  No one and no one thing I didn’t have was stopping me from creating, it was simply my thinking.  In that moment of clarity and discovery, I understood that I may not have everything but I always have enough to create something from. It was then I knew I was trapped by my tired, clichéd mantra of needing to “Think Outside The Box” in order to create.  It was time for a shift in my thinking.  From there, the research began.

Time to shift

The concept of “thinking outside the box” has become as confining and restricting, as it once was revolutionary. Christopher Peterson, Ph.D sums it up in his blog The Good Life from November 7, 2010 for Psychology Today, “I use as many clichés as anyone, but there are few that I will not trot out because I have come to dislike them immensely.  “Think Outside the box” is one of these expressions.  Indeed, it is so inside the box!” Article after article I came across seemed to be screaming, “thinking outside the box can’t really happen without thinking inside the box first—whatever “box” means to you.”  Inspiration was ignited when I finally asked myself, “What if “the box” is my life…just as it is?  What do I already have inside my box–my life–I’m not seeing the potential of that I can create from?  So many people in the world are creating, surviving and even thriving from absolutely nothing in these difficult times.  Why can’t I create from what I already have?”  Ego, fear, judgment, complaining, comparisons, competing, clawing outside of my own life, my own heart, were the issues that came up.  I needed to start shifting my thought process and begin to create from within in order create from without.  It was time to start getting creative with what I already had.  Thus, the light bulb shattered and the paradox of Think Outside The Box Inside The Box shifted my thinking.

No more waiting to create.  The time is right now.  No one should feel powerless due to his or her current circumstances or situation.  Every person can create from wherever they are with whatever they have right now and in turn, motivate others to create.  If all external factors are stripped away—judgment, lack, fear—we are free to believe in each other.  Through encouragement and motivation we create.  There is a creator and therefore a motivator inside each and every one of us with the potential to affect positive personal, community, national and global change in the creative process.  Together we can create a different world, one creation at a time.

It is from this place that Think Outside The Box Inside The Box and create from what you have emerges into being.  This entire venture is an adventure into the unknown of the known and a quest to see where it leads and what it creates.  The paradox is open for debate, the concept is pliable and the rules are not defined.

Until tomorrow, create from what you have…and share your thoughts, your ideas, your opinions, your creations, your stories and your plans with us by emailing, submitting comments and joining the Facebook community forum—let the conversation and the creation begin.

Kelli Joan Bennett is a filmmaker, actress, writer, entrepreneur, advocate for creative thinking and Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Think Outside The Box Inside The Box Media.

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