Try writing with the wrong hand Let yourself daydream Develop your inspiration Discover

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Every night, for about 90 minutes, we drift into a strange, shadowy, magical world of our own creation. Poets, writers, artists and even scientists have found inspiration in their “dreamland”. Dreams are a message from the subconscious, a way of tapping your inner self. Keep a note pad and pen by your bedside, and as soon as you wake, note down whatever snatches of dreams you can recall. Dreams can solve your problems, give you advice, reveal your true feelings, and be a source of inspiration.

What are you aware of right now? Look at a familiar object in the room as if seeing it for the first time — explore it with your eyes. Next, listen intently to any sounds you can hear. What can you smell and taste at this moment? Touch whatever is within reach, run your hand over and around it — how does it feel? During the next few weeks activate all your senses. Visit an art gallery, walk in a pine forest, luxuriate in a second bubble bath, go to a concert, swim, have a massage. Try to experience it all as if it were totally new to you.

If you’re right-handed, develop the skills of your left hand or vice versa — allow it to draw something, switch TV channels or drink a cup of tea. Try this exercise: write a list of ten adjectives which characterize your personality using the hand you usually write with. A few days later, repeat the exercise writing with the other hand. Then compare the two lists. You might be surprised at the secrets of your inner self! For example, on the first list you might have written that you’re “witty”, but the second list might say “suspicious”. Then try a similar exercise, making two lists of “ What I would most like to do”.

Have you ever longed to paint portraits or watercolors, write a novel, draw cartoons, compose a song, design your own clothes, set up a business or landscape your garden? If so, why not start now? Yes, you might discover that your fast efforts are laughable — but try, try again. With a few notable exceptions such as Mozart, most people haven’t developed their creative talents through sheer hard work. Don’t kid yourself that you haven’t any spare time. It’s a question of making time, of seeing your talents as important enough to devote a few hours to each week. Who knows — you might be the next Laura Ashley or Agatha Christie?

Forget about being told off for daydreaming at school. Daydreaming is good for you! Whether it’s a purely fantasy, or a dream about how life might be in the future, only the right-brain has visions of this kind. Creative visualization, vividly imagining whatever you desire as if it has already happened — and really believing in it, is said to be a powerful way of getting what you want. Many top sports people imagine themselves playing and winning — and it seems to work.

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