Establish your Inner Sanctuary – This is about using your mind and exploiting your imagination to enhance your creativity. According to my friend Felix Scardino during an imagery workshop, we all have a safe haven – in our mind. It’s an atmosphere you create, and you can add or change it anytime you wish.

It may be an actual place you’ve been to before or it may be one you’ve made up.  You can go there anytime, and just being there might spark your creativity, so let your imagination go.

Try this exercise: Get a blank sheet of paper and a writing utensil. Close your eyes and think of a favorite, relaxing place in which you feel very secure and comfortable. Once there, what are you seeing . . . sensing. . .  feeling. . .  touching. . .  experiencing? Have you been here before? Are you the only one here? If not, who else is here?

When you think you have a handle on where you are and what you’re experiencing, open your eyes and start writing whatever your mind tells you. Don’t over analyze this and try not to think too hard. Let your mind do the writing. Do this for about three minutes.

As a follow up practice, once you have your safe haven established, acquaint yourself with either your Aide or your Braintrust.  They reside in your imagination and can be called upon anytime. Your Aide is your confidante. He/she is what you make him/her.  Maybe he’s Uncle Fred or a composite of several folks. After all, it’s your imagination.

The Braintrust is comprised of your heroes, people you trust or who you find interesting. They can change on every visit; that’s up to you. They can be gathered together whenever you want, inside your safe haven. Take your problem or question to them and listen for what they say.