What If? Cards

Welcome to the Positive Power of What If? Cards for Creatives. Hi I’m Kiri, creator of the cards you hold in your hands. It was truly an inspired moment that brought this pack to fruition. I’d been floored by a particular thought that had surfaced during a weekend workshop. A few nights later after having sufficiently beaten myself up and struggling to sleep, I asked “What if, just for tomorrow I am some who deserves ….”

The next day, the idea had taken hold and some eight pages of What If questions emerged. My “spidey” senses were telling that I had hit on something. And being a creative and maker my whole life and riding out its pitfalls and triumphs, I knew I had to design the pack with creatives and creativity in mind.

Creativity can be such a nebulous thing. Until we bring something to light making it available for others to interact with, it exists in the ethers and rattling around in our brains. I think I can speak for those creatives amongst us, the whole process is fraught. Loads of potential to fall flat on our faces, for distractions, uncertainty at every corner and that’s all before breakfast!

We often ask What If questions when we get ourselves in a bit of spin:

“What if so and so thinks this about me?"
 "What if I don’t get that job?”
“What if I don’t get that chart finished and I’m late to rehearsal?”
“What if no one values my art and all the time put in to create it?”

Our conscious mind has the habit of taking an issue and running with it - blowing it out of proportion, relating everything and everyone to that one issue and boom - we are in overwhelm and up against it. This is referred to as over-generalisation or catastrophizing. What these cards do, is flip this thinking on its head and ask us to look for a positive take on whatever situation, emotion, thought or process we find ourselves having difficulty with.

To help with reframing what is happening, you pull a card and consider the question:

"What if, just for this moment...?"

This reels in the propensity to spiral. We can take a breath, and go “ok, this is just for right now. I don’t have to find a solution or act on anything, I’m just going to give myself time to catch my breath and gain some perspective.”

Once you have sat with the question for a while (there are a few different ways you can use the cards. I’ll cover this later) you will most likely find that the situation has been defused somewhat, you may have even found a positive outcome or the next step forward. At the very least, you’ve given yourself a break - some time and space.

You’ll notice that, unlike other card sets, there isn’t a booklet of explanations. Each question is designed to draw out inspiration, creativity and your own personalised answers. It’s your interaction with and your responses to what is asked, that make this pack unique to you. Included in the pack is a blank card for you to add the most pressing question or topic for consideration you hold in that moment.

So here are a few suggestions for how to use the What If? cards. Of course, feel free to come up with your own creative ways for playing with them!