By Kerry Lee
Special to the Herald

Don’t think you are creative? Each of us has eight creative intelligences, as per Harvard’s Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. However, we tend to rely on the ones that work best for us or hold our interest.

Want to increase your creativity by trying something new and novel?

Where does your strongest creativity lie?

Which one would you like to increase? 

These are the creative intelligences, and suggestions for increasing your creativity.

Visual / Spatial –  

Painting, drawing, designing, mind mapping. Keen ability for spatial judgement and visualizing with the mind’s eye. Try a new color on the walls of your home, office or cubicle to boost creativity.

Interpersonal – 

Discussion, idea exchange, relationship building to spark new ideas. Often sensitive to others’ moods and feelings. Make friends with someone from a different culture and let the new ideas arise!

Musical / Rhythmic – 

Playing or listening to music, singing. Extra sensitivity to sounds, rhythms and tones. Music while working can increase productivity and mood, or leave you unable to focus. How does it affect you?

Logical / Mathematical – 

Problem solving, balancing budgets, creating schedules. Often have the capacity to see underlying principles of a system. Finding new ways to write numbered lists can spark ideas.

Bodily / Kinesthetic – 

Movement, dancing, sports, walking, body language. A clear sense of timing from physical action. Try taking a walk and noticing the textures under your feet to awaken sensory awareness. Even better, go barefoot.  

Intrapersonal – 

Journaling, reading, mediating, researching. Has a deep understanding of self: strengths, weaknesses, knowing what makes oneself unique. Attend a talk or research something you wouldn’t normally consider learning about to create new strategies for a current interest. 

Linguistic –

Storytelling, writing, interviewing & conversation. Look for metaphors to make something familiar different and something different familiar and to stir new ideas.

Naturalistic – 

Gardening, photography in nature, specimen collecting, following animal footprints. Able to recognize flora and fauna, to make consequential distinctions in the world and to use this ability productively, i.e. Farming, biological science. Create a daily photo log by taking a break, go outside with your phone camera and start a collection of the day – patterns, colors, textures.  

Existential / Spiritual – 

Being able to recognize that which isn’t proven but can be obvious, the sixth sense. Gardner doesn’t commit to a spiritual intelligence but suggests an existential intelligence may be useful. I call it intuition, imagination, and wise self and find this a very valuable part of my own artistic ability that I can access by slowing down and focusing only on creating.

What other kinds of intelligences are you aware of that we are born with and can learn?

Next week I’ll go into creative blocks and my own decades-long case of what I call “creative constipation” and how it was released.

Kerry Lee, a 25 year Benicia resident, is a Certified Intentional Creativity™ Teacher and Coach leading group workshops, experiential retreats, mobile social painting parties, customized corporate team building and corporate social responsibility events and teaches essential oil lifestyle and wellness classes. Find her at KerryLeeArt.com / #TheAlchemicalArtist