You will focus more on your own path during this stage. The play that you rediscovered in Stage 3 will continue to be important for feeding your creativity throughout the entirety of your journey. As part of a regular practice, play can help keep your creative juices flowing and when you’re feeling stuck, play can help you find a new route. But to move forward in your creativity journey and to home in on your authentic voice it is time to begin forging your own path and choosing to express your creativity in a way that is uniquely your own.
Think back to your playtime. Were there things you did that caused your heart to race more than others? Was there a particular medium or technique that thrilled you? Maybe there were several. There is no need to limit yourself to one thing right now. Pick a few areas to explore further and experiment with them.
The goal of this stage is to experiment, to try on different selves in order to find the best fit. Explore different aspects of who you are through what you create in order to identify what’s most important. Experiment with different media to determine which one speaks to you the most. Or, go deeper into one medium by working in a series. Pick a topic to use as the inspiration for a series of pieces and start playing and experimenting. With each completed piece, ask yourself what you like about what you’ve created, what you don’t like and what you want to do differently in the next piece. Use the series to explore your voice and go deeper into your understanding of who you are at your core.
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