George Hardwick
Creative Uprising could easily be labelled a self-help book, but I feel it’s more accurate and meaningful to say it is a self-education book. Self-help suggests there is something wrong that needs fixing. I know you’re already amazing. What may be needed is the education that will allow you to share how amazing you are with the world.
The true meaning of the word ‘education’ is ‘to bring out what is within’. I have written Creative Uprising so that you can bring out the creative brilliance that is within you, and by doing so, live a more fulfilling and joyful life that makes a difference to the world we live in.
Why do people often find it hard to discover their true purpose in life?
I think there are three reasons for this. The first is perhaps the most heart-breaking: too many people never even ask themselves what their purpose might be. If you never even ask the question, how can you ever hope to find the answer?
Secondly, a lack of confidence. In Britain, we are experts at knocking people down and taking the mick. One of the consequences of this is that many people, even if they have an idea of what they’d like to be doing, never do it because they are afraid of what others will think or say.
The third and final reason is that people think they have to have the whole answer right now. They think they have to know exactly what they want to be doing and how they can do it. I think the biggest lesson I’ve taken from the last ten years of researching how people can find and live their purpose is that all any of us has to do, is to do what feels right, right now. Don’t worry about how it will all fall into place. If you follow your inspiration, you can be sure that your purpose will be revealed to you.
How can drawing from your creativity help?
Our creativity is one of the main things that make humans human. The scope of our creative abilities is truly astounding. We all belong to the same species, yet one may be a fantastic web designer, or mother, or chef, or painter, or actor, or micro-biologist.
There are 7 billion humans on planet earth, and yet every one of us is unique. One of the things that makes us unique from our peers is that each of us will find satisfaction from engaging in different creative tasks. What this means is that by paying attention to what creative activities we enjoy, we can learn a great deal about what our life’s greater purpose might be.
What is the True You?
The TRUE YOU is an exercise I created to help people who’ve never given much time to asking what their purpose might be. The exercise highlights the seven areas of your life that can provide real clarity on your purpose.
Here’s what TRUE YOU stands for, and maybe you might want to grab a pen and note down your responses. T is for Talents: what are you good at, that you enjoy doing? R is for Routines: what beneficial routines do you have in your life? U is for Uniqueness: what is about you that makes you unique? E is for Engagement: how do you choose to spend your time, what do you Engage with? Y is for Youth: what did you love doing as a child? What where the passions of your Youth? O is for Outspoken: what gets you Outspoken and fired up? U is for Universal: what do you think should be Universal for all people?
When you consider these seven areas, especially those things that really stand out for you, you’ll find you really start gaining clarity on where your purpose might lie, and how you can start living it.
How can you discover what parts of your life are really important to you?
The areas laid out in the TRUE YOU are a great place to start. Beyond that, try to become aware of how you feel in particular moments. For example, if you find you’ve been totally engrossed in doing something, to the extent that maybe an hour has passed in what seemed like five minutes; that is a great indication that there is something you should be paying attention to.
In a similar vein, start peeling back the layers of the things you enjoy in every day life. The aim is to see if you can find the emotion or value at the heart of it. Let me explain what I mean by giving you an example: sledging. Even though I’m meant to be an adult, I get more excited by a snow day than any child I know. When I looked deeper into why I get so excited, I realised the answer lay in my love of feeling exhilarated. I get the same feeling from sledging as I do from helping a room full of people to connect with their creativity, or from performing my poetry on stage at Glastonbury Festival.
When you can find what’s really at the core of what you enjoy, which is nearly always an emotion or value, then you can start to find ways to bring more enjoyment to more of your life.
Please tell us about a typical day as a speaker?
I guess I’m pretty lucky, in that I’m not sure I have a typical day. Certainly, I know I’m very blessed because my speaking work either involves me performing poetry or helping people unleash their creativity, and as a result, there is fantastic variation in the work I do.
Perhaps my ideal day would involve exercise, fresh juice and a writing session in the morning, then some daddy-daughter time with my new baby girl, followed by an afternoon rap lyric writing session with some of the young people I mentor, ending with an evening of poetry performance and speaking to a crowd about how they can live their Creative Uprising.
Can you give us some insight into your poetry?
Certainly. I believe we each have a unique fingerprint because we each have a unique contribution to make to the world. Some make it through baking cakes, some by being great investigative journalists. One of the ways I love to make my contribution is through poetry.
Usually the kind of poetry I create is spoken word, which I feel is an art form that is really on the rise. Poets like Kate Tempest, Hollie McNish and Suli Breaks are creating amazing art that is inspiring people to make more powerful choices in their lives.
One of the things I’m known for is creating poetry live at events. If you google ‘George Hardwick TED’, you can see an example of me in action.
What is next for you?
I’d like to build a global community around the ideas expressed in Creative Uprising. I meet more and more people who want to live a life that is more fulfilling. I hope I can help them, even in some small way, by sharing what I’ve learnt from the successes and failures in my journey so far.
To do this, I’ve started a blog and radio show where I’m able to interview inspiring people who are successfully living the creative uprising, as well as responding personally to any questions people might have about how they can make a living and make a difference by doing what they love.
George Hardwick, is the author of ‘Creative Uprising’ (£12.99 Panoma Press) which is available on Amazon now.
For more information visit:www.georgehardwick.com