Creative: the ability to make things or think up new ideas.
Creativity: the ability to perceive the world in new ways, find hidden patterns, connect the dots.
Create: to bring something new into being.
You were born with innate creative potential. You were not born without it.
Many people confuse ‘being creative’ with ‘being artistic’. Not the case.
Oh, but you do have artistic talent, we all do.
If you are given the opportunities, encouragement, training and have the motivation to practice until you master what you are learning, yep, you will get good at being artistic. But as we know, opportunities are not equal.
You have the ability to manage your ideas, to produce new work, to think, to question, to become masterful at your thing, to observe, to network, to bring out your personal meaning, to connect the dots for you, to experiment … on a moment to moment basis.
We all do, given the opportunity.
In 1965, George Land, a researcher and general systems scientist undertook a piece of research to study the enhancement of creative performance. At the end of the research, they declared, ‘non-creative behaviours are learned’.
Yep, George, I agree.
Here’s my thinking, we enter a system where (generally) we are asked to learn in a linear fashion:
nursery -> school -> high school -> college -> university -> work
We learn the answers so we can remember them to pass exams. Generally. We are being trained all the way along to enter the final system, where the rules and regulations haven’t changed much since the Industrial Revolution.
I think that’s why over 81% of the population (when researched) are utterly miserable in what they do every day.
They are creative beings working in systems (generally) that don’t want them to be creative. Heaven forbid someone actually wants to change the system! Where would they get their labour?
So, if you say, I am not creative. Ask yourself if you really agree with that statement, or have you simply been in a system teaching you to unlearn your creativity?
It’s not possible to deny what is yours (innate creative potential) hence the misery and people feeling as if they are having their soul sucked out of them every single day.
You are a creative being. Don’t ever underestimate the power of your creativity, it’s who you are.
Sure, you may not have mastered an artistic skill yet, but you may release it in other ways:
- Helping a child to tie their shoes. Creative.
- Producing a warm and welcoming space for people when they come to your home. Creative.
- Bring people together for a common interest. Creative.
- Managing a project, a charity idea, a fundraiser. Creative.
- Throwing a meal together for 8 with a bag of potatoes, and a turnip. Creative.
- Thinking about how you can improve the quality of your life in your community. Creative.
- Experimenting with your career, business, goals, getting bendy. Creative.
- Questioning old habits that no longer work for you. Creative.
- Empowering others to believe in themselves. Creative.
- Writing a blog post. Creative.
- Ending a relationship without tearing each other up for toilet paper. Creative.
But Dawn, they aren’t really that creative. not really! Then ask the child who can tie his shoelaces because of you. Or that person, a stranger, who you smiled at one day and gave them the reason to keep on going.
Can creativity be taught? It doesn’t require teaching. It’s inbuilt. It’s more about unlearning everything you have learned that’s preventing you seeing it.
Phew!
You are a creative being. Remember it. And where you encourage others and offer them the opportunity and motivation to practice their creativity, well, then you are also an innovator and pretty much an amazing human to me.
Reflective Questions:
- Where does creativity flourish in your life?
- What can you do (or do more of) to create the conditions for creativity to expand in your life? And for others?
- What have you been considering creating but (right now) can’t connect the dots, what small creative act can you do today to seek the help you need?
Love, Dawn xo
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