A New Perspective On Creativity

The word creative was not a word I ever considered when identifying myself. I am not spontaneous or easygoing, a talented artist, a musician, or a poet. Instead, I am structured, a planner, and an organizer of people and things. Yes, I had preconceived notions of what it looked like to be a creative person. And it wasn’t me.

That is until I transitioned from business professional to the educator of tiny humans and began learning something new about creativity.

For years, I lived in work environments that demanded I be adult-like and serious. I worked with fully grown humans and ran numbers. I performed audits, balanced ledgers, and managed budgets. Creativity lived in the background of my everyday life, unrecognized.

While having children opened some doors for creative expression, it wasn’t until I immersed myself in the world of tiny humans that I discovered or perhaps rediscovered my creative self.

“Every child is an artist;
the problem is staying an artist when you grow up.”
Pablo Picasso

So many of us grow up and allow adulting responsibilities to pull us away from our creative selves. We assume that we are not creatives if our vocation is not that of poets, musicians, or artists. Yet, I realize that we are all creative and skilled at creating and restoring beauty and goodness in this world.

Perhaps for some of us, it would help to redefine what it means to be creative. In an article on the California State University website titled What is creativity?, “Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful to solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.”

As we consider creativity, it would seem we need to include more than the artist. And consider the creativity of the outside-the-box thinker, the problem solver, and those inspiring others with their imagination.

Are you a divergent thinker? Someone who can explore various ideas and thinks spontaneously, with the ability to defer judgment and allow ideas to flow freely. You are creative.

Are you a problem solver? Someone who can look at the big picture and find solutions others may not always see. You are creative.

Are you inspirational? Someone who helps motivate others to believe they can accomplish things in life and encourage others to consider new approaches or concepts in their ordinary everyday. You are creative.

Are you a baker, a cook, an organizer, a gardener, a crafter, or someone who gathers people in community? You are being creative in all those daily activities.

Spending time with my tiny human friends has opened my eyes to the world from a different perspective. It has taught me to recognize that creativity and learning are in the process rather than the result. It has reminded me that perspective is often a choice. I can choose to see a field of dandelions as grass covered in weeds or a field of beauty covered in potential wishes. Tiny humans remind me to notice without judgment and to embrace imagination and play throughout the day. And most importantly, my tiny human friends have inspired me to want to invest in adding beauty and goodness into this world, to leave behind something of beauty for the next generation.

As Albert Einstein once said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”

So how will you add more fun into your ordinary everyday life?

How might you add more beauty and goodness to your world?

How might you embrace your creative self?

P.S. If you are interested in exploring more thoughts about creativity, check out this episode of the Being Known Podcast on Renewing Vocational Creativity.