– all you need is paper and pencil -

Activating your creativity doesn’t require expensive supplies. With just paper and pencil, you can exercise the right side of your brain—the part that sparks imagination, intuition, and fresh solutions.

Here are 5 simple exercises to help you unlock your creativity:

 1. Doodle, scribble, or make swirly letters 

Keep a pen handy and play with doodles whenever you find a scrap of paper—your to-do list, an old envelope, even a napkin.

Not a natural doodler? Try signing your name backward, upside down, or both.

Practice until you master all three.

It’s a fun way to challenge your brain and break out of routine.

Personal Note:My 6-year-old grandson Jude recently filled a notebook page with scribbles—loops, zigzags, shapes only he understood.

And he did it without a moment’s hesitation.

No worrying if it looked “right.”

No judgment.

Just pure joy in making marks on paper.

That’s the magic we lose as adults.

We hesitate, critique, or stop before we even start.

Jude reminded me that creativity isn’t about perfection—it’s about play.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is pick up a pen and scribble, letting our imagination lead.

2. Have a Bilateral Conversation

Take a pencil in your dominant hand and write the question: “How’s it going?”

Then switch to your non-dominant hand and write whatever comes up.

The handwriting will be shaky, but that’s the point.

The right hemisphere of your brain (which controls your non-dominant hand) specializes in feelings and intuition.

You may be surprised at the gentle, wise answers it offers—like a tiny Zen master inside you.

3. Write a Gratitude List

Gratitude doesn’t just lift your mood.

Studies show it rewires the brain, reduces stress hormones, and improves endorphin production.

Spend three minutes a day writing down what you’re thankful for. This quick ritual can train your brain to notice the positive more often.

4. Write Outside

Sit on a park bench, your porch, or even outside work during a lunch break. Journal about the sounds and smells around you.

The more you notice new details, the more you expand your brain’s ability to connect and create.

No time to go out? Write by hand instead of typing. Handwriting activates more areas of your brain and strengthens memory.

5. Notice the Shift: Left Brain to Right Brain

One of my favorite resources, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards, offers exercises that help you feel this shift. Here are a few:

Vase/Faces Drawing: Draw a profile, then mirror it to create a vase. Watch as your brain shifts from labeling “eye, nose, mouth” to simply seeing curves and angles.

Upside-Down Drawing: Copy an image upside down. It forces your brain to focus on lines and shapes rather than symbols.

Contour Drawing: Slowly draw your hand without lifting the pencil, moving only as your eyes move. You may lose track of time—proof that you’ve tapped into your right brain

Who Benefits from These Exercises?

• Business leaders brainstorming fresh ideas

• Engineers, accountants, or scientists seeking new solutions

• Parents encouraging creativity in kids

• Anyone ready to trust their intuition and imagination more deeply

Final Thought:

When I watched Jude scribble across a page, I realized we were all six years old once—full of curiosity, unafraid to make marks, and free from the worry of getting it “right.”

That fearless joy is still inside us. All it takes is a pencil, a scrap of paper, and permission to play.

Creativity doesn’t ask for perfection—it asks for presence.

Creativity and resilience walk hand in hand. When you’re ready to see how a single moment can spark both, read [The Knock That Taught Me to Restart]. It’s a story about pausing, exhaling, and beginning again.