Tea for Creatives: Samantha Bennett Helps You Unleash Creative Genius
Samantha Bennett is a writer, creativity/productivity specialist, actor, and the author of the bestselling, Get It Done: From Procrastination to Creative Genius in 15 Minutes a Day (New World Library). She is creator of both www.TheOrganizedArtistCompany.com and www.TheOrganizedEntrepreneurCompany.com, organizations dedicated to helping creative people get unstuck by helping them focus and move forward on their goals, and find artful ways to market their business and make more money. Samantha’s “Start Right Where You Are,” “Get It Done” and “Creative Genius, CEO” Workshops, teleclasses and private consulting have helped overwhelmed procrastinators, frustrated overachievers, and recovering perfectionists everywhere.
Still a working actor, Bennett started her career at the world-famous Second City Theatre and moved to Los Angeles in 1994. She’s since worked with many of Los Angeles’ premier theatre companies, including LA TheatreWorks and ComedySportz and she has extensive television and film credits. The former Chicago native now calls home to a tiny beach town outside of Los Angeles, CA.
You’ll love Samantha’s insights on how creative people can get out from under the curse of “sparkly thing syndrome” and begin focusing on and finishing projects. Read on to find out how you can get a free PDF of “365 Reasons to Write.”
What does creativity/ being creative mean to you?
I think everyone is a creative genius. Now, not everyone is artistic, of course, in the same way that not everyone is musical, but everyone has their own spark, their own way of looking at the world and their own way of solving problems differently than anyone else ever has. That’s creativity in action, and it’s available to everyone, everywhere, of any age.
Your book is all about finishing projects and getting past our own anxieties in order to put a finished product out in the world. What anxieties have you had to work through?
Of course, like every writer, I got discouraged along the way, but I had the advantage of having named my book, “Get It Done.” I mean, with a title like that, I really could NOT miss my deadline. So that helped push me over a few humps.
One concern I had was about the structure of the book. I was worried that it was just this big blob; that it didn’t have a spine. But then I realized that part of the problem was writing in Word, which made the whole thing one big, long, undifferentiated document. Once I started using Scrivener, it made it much easier to get my bearings.
In what ways do “creative people work a little bit differently” from everyone else? How does this help or hinder their progress and success?
Creative people are idea people. They have tons of great ideas all the time, and it’s very easy for them to dream up new things. Which is wonderful when the creative person has a system for capturing, evaluating and moving forward on those ideas. But this blessing turns into a curse when they can’t decide which of their 137 projects to move forward on, or when they suffer from “sparkly thing” syndrome, in which each new idea seems so much more interesting than the previous, now-boring old one, and so nothing ever gets finished. This proliferation of ideas can lead to chaos, overwhelm and stuckness. Which is totally no fun.
What happens to a creative person who fails to move forward on her great idea?
The tragedy of self-betrayal, I think. I’ve heard it said that we build esteem and trust with other people when we keep our promises to them, and we build self-esteem and self-trust when we keep our promises to ourselves. But when we break our promises to ourselves over and over again (“I’ll write today…. OK, I didn’t write today but definitely tomorrow…The weekend was really busy, so I’ll give myself a free pass, but I’ll start for sure on Monday….”) we start to lose faith in ourselves. When your experience of yourself is one of consistent failure, you begin to not trust yourself. And for the creative person, self-trust is mandatory. You must be able to hear your intuition, to follow your instincts and to trust your own vision and voice.
Even if you are convinced that your idea is dumb, or that you don’t know how to do it, or that no one will ever care about it, spend 15 minutes a day on it. Even just that little bit of time every day will help keep you connected to your own creativity. And, knowing that you’ve moved forward even just a tiny bit will improve your mood all day. Guaranteed.
Where do you find inspiration to sustain your own creative process?
I’m a fool for praise and compliments, so hearing kind words from others will often fuel my fire (smile) Also, I’ve learned that it’s not always about “sustaining.” I’ve learned to trust the ebb and flow of my creative output. Sometimes I’m super-busy and working on a hundred things, and other times I’ll be much quieter, and let my work lay fallow for a while. Those quiet times used to throw me into a panic, but now I know that rest and silence are a vital part of the creative cycle.
What mantra describes your philosophy on living a creative life?
“We work in the dark – we do what we can – we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.”
― Henry James, The Middle Years
Describe your favorite teacup and tea ritual.
My favorite tea mug is one I made on Zazzle – it says, “Art Before Housework”
Immediately upon waking, I do my morning prayer/meditation practice, and then I get up and make one mug of PG Tips with milk and sugar. Then I snuggle up on the couch and read the newspaper. Makes for a wonderful start to the day. I also make my own chai spice mix, so sometimes I’ll make chai tea – also with a lot of milk and sugar. So yummy.
We’d like to note that Claritea is the perfect tea to help you get grounded and focus on a project.
Find out why Samantha says you should give pet names to your projects:
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FREE PDF of “365 Reasons to Write”
- Take out your smartphone and text the word “GetItDoneBook” (no spaces) to the number “96000” (as though that is the phone number you are texting to)
- You’ll get a little web form that will ask you for your name and email for Sam to send you the book. That will also put you on her email list, which most people find to be a very entertaining experience. Of course you may unsubscribe at any time.
Tags: artist, artistic process, author, claritea, coaching, Creative Anxiety, Creative Genius, Creative Goals, creative minds, creative process, Creativitea, creativity, Get It Done, get unstuck, inspiration, LA TheatreWorks, tea, tea for creatives
