Creativity and Habit I believe that the most useful attitude to strengthening creativity is to think in terms of being a creative process within you, rather than only thinking of art and craft making as a creative form of expression. Part of the nature of a creative process is experimentation and adapting to what is happening in your craft making or artistic process. To be in a creative frame of mind relies on being flexible and freshly responsive in the way you relate to what you are doing. The antithesis of a creative process is mechanical repetition and going through the motions. An analogy is being on Auto –pilot. You have set the course and your fingers just do it automatically. In a way you are not there doing it, there is a quality of being absent. When habit is active you not really making a choice, the habit is making the choices, it has it‘s own course. In a way there is nothing new in habit it is same old story over and again. When you are in habitual pattern you are not making true choices moment to moment. It is so much more satisfying to use craft-making to be vividly engaged and have a sense of real choice. I think there is a useful distinction between habit and conscious routines. You can set up your tools and materials the same way every time but still have a sense of freshness and immediacy in what you do, but doing it on automatic is habit and will set you off on the wrong foot for the project.
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