“I’m just not really that creative.”
How many times have you heard someone say this? Or, have you said this yourself? In truth, many adults feel this way. They cringe when asked to help a child with a school project or participate in a brainstorming session at work. They think being creative means things like paintings, music, and even Grandma’s quilts. They think of the traditional view of what it means to be creative – creating a tangible work or art or crafting something that requires color, words, or music.
This traditional view of creativity limits a person’s ability to apply creative thinking to everyday, real world activities. People believe that if they can’t draw or write, they don’t have the skills to think creatively when it comes to their jobs, family life, or personal care. They are afraid to share an idea or try something different because someone else might think it’s weird.
Too often, adults have accepted that unless they can paint like Picasso or write a sonnet like Shakespeare, they aren’t creative. When it come to living a creative life, people need to adopt a new mindset. There are some key elements that people need to accept in order to start changing their non-creative thinking.
EVERYONE HAS A CREATIVE SIDE. SOMETIMES PEOPLE JUST LOSE SIGHT OF THIS ON THE WAY TO BECOMING ADULTS.
When asked about favorite activities as children, even those who don’t think of themselves as creative respond with things like coloring, playing imaginary games, and building elaborate LEGO structures. All things that require creativity and imagination.
As children, creative thinking is necessary for learning. Children play imaginary games and build things to learn about the world around them and develop cause-effect relationships. But somewhere between the awkward years of eight and twenty-eight, this need to experiment, build, and explore gives way to schedules, corporate guidelines, and family obligations. There are a number of factors that cause people to push aside creative skills, but regardless of the reasons, many adults believe they can’t be creative if they’re not in a traditionally creative field, or if they are running kids from school to soccer practice and don’t have time to do a craft project.
In reality, the same creative and imaginative skills they had as children are still part of them. They have just forgotten how to engage those skills because they’re used to being told how to do a job or what society views as being a normal productive adult. People need to embrace the idea that it’s okay to be creative. They can still be productive adults and be able to try to new things and have fun.
CREATIVITY IS NOT LIMITED
Under the traditional view of creativity, most people jump to discussions of art, music, books, and even weekend craft projects. The notion is that creativity implies a finished product of some sort – a book, a painting, or a scrapbook page. The problem with this view is that it prevents people from seeing themselves as creativity if they can’t draw a realistic horse or write a heartfelt poem.
In order to allow more creative thinking, adults need to broaden their definition of creativity. Creativity doesn’t equal art. Yes, authors, artists, and musicians consider themselves creative. The broader definition of creativity, however, includes being able to think differently than others, being willing to take risks in developing new ideas, and being able to ask questions. By limiting the definition of creativity, people limit their ability to innovate in their careers or allow themselves flexibility in their personal lives.
The ability to be creative doesn’t stop once you reach a certain age. It doesn’t stop once you chose a college major or have your first child. Creativity never stops.
EVERY LIFESTYLE AND CAREER BENEFITS FROM CREATIVE THINKING.
Whether a person is a homemaker, a CEO, a student, or a medical researcher, being able to think creatively means the ability to solve problems and develop more efficient methods for doing things.
In every job, in order for the company to survive, managers have to find new ways to make the company profitable. This requires creative approaches to processing work and reaching clients. Non-profit organizations need new and inventive ways to promote their cause and influence donors to continue to support them. The medical profession must experiment with new medications and continually ask questions in order to find new treatments. All of these require the ability to create new processes, develop relationships, and consider possible future outcomes.
For parents, the busyness of life often means they are tied to schedules. Kids have school activities, sports practices, and dentist appointments. Trying to balance work and family schedules can become overwhelming. Creativity allows parents to not only encourage their kids in creative play, but it also allows them to enhance teaching moments in everyday situations.
For any adult, regardless of family situation, the demands of jobs and other obligations means everyone deals with at least moderate stress from time to time. Being able to find ways to alleviate that stress is necessary, or, over time, that stress builds to unhealthy levels. Having a creative outlet provides a positive method of dealing with stress and cultivates a person’s ability to apply creative thinking to other areas of her life.
MODERN PROBLEMS REQUIRE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS
There are news stories everyday of businesses going bankrupt, political and social issues, and families in crisis. As the world becomes more interconnected through technology and business, there’s also an increase in the complexity of issues the world faces. The way people used to do business and solve problems no longer works.
In order to solve new problems, as well as prepare to deal with future concerns, people need to think creatively to respond to changes in technology, communication, and social concerns. Trying to do things “the way we’ve always done it” causes companies to stagnate and doesn’t allow for personal development or experiences.
CREATIVITY REQUIRES NURTURING
Like all skills, no matter how talented someone is, if the skill is not practiced, it weakens. The creative sense displayed in childhood weakens for many people as they grow up because they stop employing creative thinking in favor of structed learning methods, career choices, or one-size-fits-all business models.
In order to live a creative life, creative instincts have to be nurtured through regular use. Business leaders must be willing to encourage employees to offer solutions. Entrepreneurs have to continually review their goals and methods of helping clients. Medical researchers should be willing to learn from each other to develop better treatments. Parents can cultivate their own creative skills by engaging with their children in creative play. Any adult should not feel guilty about taking time to read a book or color a picture.
While there are some people who seem to be born with natural aptitude for language or music, this doesn’t mean they hold the market on creativity. Everyone has some natural creative ability, as seen in the kinds of activities we participate in as children. The problem is that many adults lose their sense of creativity as they go through school, pick a career, have families, and/or otherwise go through life.
In order to reignite that creative sense, people must change their mindset about what creativity means. Adults need to realize that creativity isn’t limited to certain types of people and be willing to nurture creative skills in everyday life.
WHAT’S NEXT?
In future posts, I’ll break down these core concepts even further, giving examples from specific areas and interviews with people living creative lives.
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