We’re born with the ability to play.
Yet one of the biggest disappointments in adulthood is feeling that whatever creativity you had didn’t survive your childhood. Almost everyone has a story of at least one adult whom we respected dissing something we made. Our creative confidence crawled off in humiliation to hide deep in our hearts, and we said, “Never again.”
Now as an adult, you’re drawn to the metal sculptures your city just installed in a park. You wander online into an introductory YouTube video about sewing the latest fashions. Occasionally you pick up a brochure from your local museum or art center. Look at all those paint-splashed, clay-encrusted, fabric-scrap-littered, ink-stained happy people in its pictures! The fun supplies, the intriguing tools, the gorgeous colors. The idea of hanging out with kindred spirits is so tempting.
But the memory of the painful comment resurfaces. We head back home, close the browser window, toss the brochure in the trash.
We wonder where the people in those pictures got the courage to let the kid in them come back out and play.
First, let’s use the Britannica’s definition of “creativity.”
The ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form.
Some mental decluttering can help.
Realize your brain is filled with misinformation and other people’s opinions about what it means to create or be creative.
Don’t let those rule your thinking or actions when creating anything.
You can’t banish these energy drainers entirely. They’ve been there a long time and have settled in. Just be aware of them and put them in another "mental room” when you’re ready to have fun and explore.
Myth #5: Creativity comes in a flash of insight.
It happens, but not often. And definitely not as often as the stories about geniuses would have you believe.
Most of the time, people just decide to dig in and start creating:
Ask “what if?” Generate ideas. Read books and blogs, watch videos, listen to podcasts. Learn, setting aside fears of failure or incompetence.
Experiment. Work with a variety of mediums in a hobby over time. Bring in stuff from other hobbies. E.g., embellish a quilt with washers and wire from a toolbox. Take a piece of classical music and play it using a jazz tempo instead.
Do the work. I don’t mean the day-job type of grinding work. I mean get your hands dirty and your spirit re-energized regularly with paint or ink or pencil lead or clay or darkroom chemicals. Let your clothes pick up snippets of thread as you work with fabric. Lay out a worktable with collage fodder, glue jars, stencils, paint markers. Edit, edit, and edit your blog post again. Regularly empty your mind of ideas, results, joys, and fears into journals and sketchbooks (digital or paper).
Find your tribe. Share your work. Admire that of others. Support the beginners. Honor the experts.
Rest. Do the dishes, fold the laundry, walk the dog (mindless activities). Even take a nap (gasp!). Turn it all over to your subconscious mind and let it percolate.
But while creativity may appear to be a spontaneous burst of new ideas, it is really the art of deriving the new from the old – the relentless reassembly of information we already possess.—David Cox
Myth #4: A person is most creative when they have total freedom and infinite resources.
Surprisingly, those usually cause creative paralysis instead.
A healthy dose of constraints provides focus and challenge. For example, I recently stored my knitting projects in my basement to make physical and mental room for my quilting and writing.
Constraints also work for individual projects. Artists find using just three paint colors can open a whole new set of possibilities and introduce creative stress at the same time.
Myth #3: Creativity is only valuable when it results in totally new ideas and inventions.
Do you think your creative efforts only have value if you produce something brand-new? Momentous? Life-changing?
Absolutely not true.
The Encyclopedia of Creativity 3rd edition (who knew there was one and there’s controversy??) has 232 chapters, several of which introduce a few types:
Little-c creativity is what we find in the everyday production of novel solutions to minor problems. For example, combine ingredients from the fridge that you haven’t previously put together to make a quick, stir-fry meal. And don’t use someone else's recipe.
Big-C creativity refers to major productions of scientific, technological, social, or artistic importance. Darwin's theory of evolution, the invention of the printing press, the Mona Lisa, and the development of the double helix model of DNA are examples.
The idea here is not to get wrapped up in “size,” whether it’s the size of what you create or the amount of impact it makes. Creativity has a wide spectrum of how “big” to go, and there is room for everybody on it.
Myth #2: Creativity can’t be taught.
Yes, it can. Which means it can also be learned.
In fact, that’s where almost of us start. For example, understanding how watercolors work on wet and dry paper is key to achieving the look and image you want. Knowledge and skill only come with practice, often supported by a live or recorded class with a teacher, a YouTube video, or a book of exercises to follow.
As you become comfortable with tools, supplies, and techniques, you may find that a mistake is really a “happy accident.” For many of the artists I’ve come to know, a “mistake” has come to define their work and help them hone their style.
Myth #1: Creativity is a rare gift.
Just about everyone has the ability to become creative in something to some degree.
It’s not contained in a single gene inherited by a lucky few. Research has found there are many shades of creativity in which one ability (such as music) may be enhanced by genes that don’t do anything for the visual arts.
For instance, I’ve known since childhood that being a ballerina was not in the cards. (I barely made it through gymnastics in PE class as it was.) Fortunately, I never wanted to be one anyway.
But I do make lovely quilts. Clients and their audiences (and hopefully you!) like my writing. Even a couple small pieces of my art have been sold by a gallery for their fundraiser.
Add it all up.
The bottom line is, find something that speaks to your soul, learn the basics, and put in the work.
If what you chose brings you joy, you’re on the right track.
After you’ve given it a good try, if it’s boring or just not your thing, don’t hesitate to drop it and pivot to something else.
Life’s short. Create now.
In the Creativity Nation, all are welcome to explore their intuition, ingenuity, imagination, and inventiveness regardless of level of creativity.
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