creative play with dandelion, before & after pics (created using GIMP)

Yesterday I spent the afternoon playing with images in GIMP, a free image manipulation program with features similar to Photoshop. I let go of must-do's and played, with no expectations.

I ended up:

~ stumbling upon an image, by digitally modifying one of my photos, that would be a perfect book jacket for a book, thus inspiring me to start researching its publication,

~ drafting a poster for a project that's brewing,

~ figuring out how to transform images in a new-to-me way, opening up many, many creative possibilities for new products,

~ designing two new greeting cards for the shop, with two more in draft state, and

~ experiencing a powerful wave of creative energy that I hadn't experienced in a while, motivating me to carry on with my creative biz.

Right brain play translated into new projects and a renewed energy to carry them through.

The moral of this story?

Unstructured, creative play can be just as valuable to productivity and business as goals and to-do lists.

Try it. You might be surprised at the results.