The Creative SEED

How to Enrich your Life through Creativity

Skills, Experimentation, Evaluation and Discovery: SEED " an original approach empowering beginners and established creators to clearly understand the nature of the creative process. Whether you are already involved in some form of creative expression, think you don't have an ounce of creative flair, are a raw beginner or well established, you can discover and nurture new, exciting dimensions in your life with The Creative SEED to keep you inspired and on track in living your creative dream.

Lilian Wissink has over twenty years' experience as a counselling psychologist. Assisting people to discover and realise their potential by helping them to develop compassionate self-awareness and new skills is fundamental to her philosophy. She is a member of the Australian Psychology Society and the College of Counselling Psychologists, has appeared on radio and television and has presented numerous conference papers. Over many years she has enjoyed creative expression in different areas, including acting, drawing, painting, photography, singing and dancing. Over the past decade she has evolved as an artist " from a raw beginner to taking part in exhibitions.

The Creative SEED
Exisle Publishing
Author: Lilian Wissink
ISBN: 9781925820300
RRP: $19.99

Interview with Lilian Wissink

Question: Why did you write The Creative Seed?

Lilian Wissink: I was drawn to combine my fascination of creativity with my experience as a counsellor and help people discover and nurture their inner artist, writer, performer or crafter.

The initial impetus started at a time when I was feeling on top of my professional life as a Counselling Psychologist. I wondered, "well, what else is there to discover about myself?" I kept pondering this question and then one day I was curious about how I could go about drawing a jug! I'd always believed that I wasn't the creative type and that anything like drawing or painting was way beyond my capability. Even though my jug was incredibly misshapen, I became hooked by the discovery and kept playing and learning and now I exhibit my paintings! I soon understood the incredible benefits of giving time to creative expression. I also realised that many people were apprehensive about starting something new or they would begin and then become discouraged and not continue with their creativity. So, I wanted to write a guidebook for people who either had no idea where to start and also to encourage and support people already in any creative realm from a beginner to well established.


Question: What originally inspired the concept of SEED?

Lilian Wissink: SEED is both a metaphor and an acronym that stands for Skills, Experimentation, Evaluation and Discovery. As a metaphor we know that if we water and look after a seed, it will grow. Well, the same for our creativity. And the acronym explains this. The S in seed is about learning new skills, so for a beginner, this might be how to mix certain colours or how to hold and play a chord on a guitar. Just basic stuff to begin with, but it's crucial that we let ourselves be a beginner, make mistakes and continue!

Next we have the first E in seed which is for Experimentation and this is all about playing with the skills that we are learning along the way. If we are a singer, then it might be trying different ways of phrasing a song. Experimentation might mean trying out new woodwork tools on rough wood and being curious about the results.

The next E in seed stands for Evaluation. And how we go about evaluating our creativity is absolutely vital. If we are negative and judgemental then we will become discouraged. But if we ask ourselves useful questions, like "what's working well" "what needs attention or change" then we are much more likely to get to the D of seed which is Discovery. We discover our own unique way of expressing ourselves creatively. The SEED approach is not linear but more like a loop where we go back and forth and around these four significant parts of the creative process.


Question: Who do you hope will read The Creative Seed?

Lilian Wissink: Anyone at any age who has even the slightest inkling to do something new in a creative realm to well-established creatives who are dealing with the inevitable challenges of the creative process, such as fear, self-doubt and frustration. I also hope people who think they are too busy to give time to a particular creative pursuit will read my book and realise that taking time out for creativity, even short amounts of time, will be highly beneficial to their overall well-being and provide that much needed life balance.


Question: What's the main message you hope readers take from The Creative Seed?

Lilian Wissink: We are all already creative, whether that's at school, at home or in our workplace and we can discover new ways to channel our creativity. We can nurture and support our creative selves in helpful ways to take us further than we ever imagined!


Question: What book are you reading right now?

Lilian Wissink: The Practical Dog Listener by Jan Fennell. We have a lovely 6-month-old miniature schnauzer called Roxy. I've had adult dogs before, but never a puppy, so it's great fun learning how to raise a happy, well-balanced pooch!


Interview by Brooke Hunter
The Creative SEED 
Exisle Publishing
Author: Lilian Wissink 
ISBN: 9781925820300
RRP: $19.99