This is the final (for now) article in a series on creativity and the creative process.

In the past eleven weeks, I have dedicated myself to thinking about creativity - my own, others', the way I approach it, and what it means. I started small, wanting to get back into the swing of writing on a regular basis. It was for my own enjoyment. It was something to do to get my mind off of everything else going on in my life.

But the more I wrote, the deeper I fell into it.

The thing about writing is that it's the most effective way to think. Translating thoughts into words can be difficult but incredibly rewarding. Each week, I learned news things about myself and the way I processed things around me. I contemplated fear, courage, and what it meant to sit down with myself and create. I read new books and listened to experts on the importance of finding that child-like determination to create. The most important thing I learned was to dedicate time for free, un-judged creativity every day. I have learned so much.

Here is what I want you to know:

1. Use exclamation points! Frequently!

If not in practice, in application. Approach your life with enthusiasm. When you look at yourself in the mirror every morning, say, "Hello!" and "I love you!" When you look at your work, say the same things.

2. Act.

Act, act, act. Do not give way to the doubt in your mind that tells you you are not good enough. You are.

3. Do not be afraid of your own power.

Because it's there. Embrace it. Find all the ways possible to use it. Then find more.

4. Be so bold in your acts of creation that you inspire awe within the deepest parts of the people around you.

And within yourself.

5. Your experiences are poetry.

Perfection does not exist. Nor will it ever. Focus on the present moment; find the beauty in it.

6. When you create, you are telling your soul that it is loved.

Fill yourself with so much love that you're overflowing. Then share that love with other people.

7. Auditioning – or putting yourself out there in any way – is really difficult but really worth it.

You learn so much about yourself that you didn’t know; you discover a hundred news ways of expression. Find something to do that puts your creativity into the world for others to see. It's terrifying but worth it.

8. Let go.

Practice. Breathe. Let go of the outcome.

9. Learn to love silence the way you love your heartbeat.

Constantly, unconsciously, deeply. Let it fill you like still water. Contemplate the world around you. Listen to what your soul has to tell you.

10. Find the way you were meant to be creative.

Because you are creative. There's no doubt about that.

11. Be forever grateful.