Creativity is a skill, like dribbling a basketball or cooking a gourmet meal. Sure, there are some people who are born with these abilities, but with some expert help, the rest of us can usually learn enough to do a passable job. Those of us with an enthusiasm for it, can learn to be great.
One of creativity’s easiest lessons to learn is passion. All of us have a passion, something we love to do and will pursue regardless of any obstacles in our path. When you are passionate about something, you make time for it. You put aside other not-so-important issues and tasks and focus on attaining your goals.
My understanding of creativity may differ from the usual form. I think of creativity as more of a flexibility. It is the ability to flow with the many changes of life and to maintain a positive outlook while still reaching my goals. If you switch your showers from morning to the night so that you can get up early to run a few miles and stay in shape, that is creativity. If you are learning to cook and you fix three new recipes on the weekend because you don’t have time during the week, that’s creativity.
One of my favorite books is “The Creative Spirit,” by Daniel Goleman, Paul Kaufman, and Michael Ray. They have explore several examples of creative people, creative living and creative success. One of my favorite passages was about having a creative mind:
“One of the goals of Zen Buddhism is to go beyond the senses and beyond thinking,” says Professor Kraft. “Intuition – the source of insight – sneaks up on your from somewhere else when you’re not thinking about it.”
“One of the images used metaphorically in Asia for creativity is water. Water conforms to whatever circumstances it’s in. Water in a river rushes along, but if it comes to a rock, it flows around it. If you take a cup to the river and fill it, the water will suddenly and perfectly conform to the container.”
A mind as clear and reflective as water is central to the oriental martial arts tradition, which places a high value on responding to and even anticipating events. Enormous discipline is required to attain this state of mind, in which one is capable of receiving information without distortion. For it is accurate information – whether it is the detection of an opponent’s next move in judo, or the anticipation of a subtle shift in consumer taste in automobiles- that forms the basis for creative action.”
Don’t believe that you are not a creative person. Each time you find an easier way to do your chores, or a quicker route to work you are being creative. When you reward your kids for reading with a trip to the zoo you are being creative. Creativity is a flowing, fluid state of being where ideas flow and change is natural and beneficial. You don’t have to be into crafts or an advertising executive to be creative. It is a skill that can be learned and applied in almost any situation.
Here are a few sites to get you started:
Why Every Person Should Develop Creative Thinking Skills.
This is a great article which I have printed for myself – 10 Steps for Boosting Creativity.
Michael Michalko’s Creative Thinking site. Check out the “Bright Ideas – 16 ways to jump start your company’s creativity.”
This is an entirely different perspective of creativity right here. There are a lot of people in the world who are afraid of touching creativity for fear of not being good at it as others seem to be. But this article shows that everyone can be tap into their potential and that there is no single way to go about it.
I think Picasso was on the right track when he said that we are born geniuses but society de-geniuses us. Maybe creativity is just something we re-discover rather than learn. If you’re feeling jaded about creativity, one solutionis to spend an afternoon with a five-year-old.
Thanks Jay & Jurgen. Glad you liked the post. I’ve heard people say for years “I’m just not creative.” If that didn’t bother them, I don’t think I would have written the post.
I’ve always strongly believed that everyone is creative. But you have to believe in yourself enough to try. Creativity and flexibility go hand in hand as tools to help you deal with life’s problems.
Plus it’s just fun! :0)
I love the creativity comments!
BTW, I *finally* got around to posting my Thursday Thirteen with 13 blogs I enjoy reading. including Brighter Days
The post URL is really long, but it’s in the usual place at Daily Mitzvah
Jen
Whoops, I thought that would link
It’s dailymitzvah.blogspot.com
Jen
Excellent perscpective on creativity, brightdays…
many blessings toyou for this gift,
CG
Super Blog, Mate! I am always on the lookout for new and interesting sites and posts about audio equipment… which is what led me here. I certainly plan on visiting again! See Ya
Thanks Marlena,
Thanks for stopping by, hope to hear from you again.
I love it when people enjoy an article – but it’s even better when they like the site!
[...] Hence, for more info “Creativity is a skill that can be improved upon through education, training, and experience.” [4] [...]
I was curious about if you ever considered adjusting the page layout of your blog? It is well written; I love what you have got to state. But maybe you could add a little more in the way of content so people could connect to it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?