The Journey to Creativity – Part 1

creativityI hear people say, “Oh, I’m not creative at all!” or “I just don’t have the patience for that kind of thing. Wish I did.” (when I’m knitting)

They are wrong.

We all have creativity. It doesn’t mean you’re destined to crochet Granny squares for the rest of your life. (Have you seen the Granny Square afghan on my DIY blog? Oh wow!) Creativity is different for everyone. Think about these very different occupations:

    • Car Repair

    • Upholstery

    • Brain Surgery

    • Farmer

    • Architect

Each one of those jobs require some creativity. You will always come upon new situations that need to be solved. That’s being creative.

So, why do we think we aren’t creative?

There are many reasons.

  • Creative efforts might not have resulted in praise.

  • We believe the things that have been said about us – “Oh, she’s all thumbs!” or “My dad always told me I have no mechanical ability.”

  • Sometimes creativity is squelched.

  • It may not have been masculine or a prudent way to spend time.

  • Perhaps it was labeled unproductive.

When we started school, our teacher may have said, “Now draw a yellow flower in the middle of the page.”

Well, what if we wanted to draw several purple flowers all over the page? By ignoring our own creative urges and following the direction of the teacher, we sun-flower-1536088_640may have earned a good grade, but it didn’t encourage that creative seed.

We learned to follow directions, we learned about yellow, and we learned about the middle of the page. But we didn’t learn to develop our natural creativity.

Now, about yellow flowers! There is so much more to learn about yellow flowers! They are beautiful in the midst of the purple flowers.

Yellow comes in all sorts of flavors, and it’s mixed with the green of the leaves and the stems. And what about weeds? What kind of garden doesn’t have weeds? They have a beauty all their own and shouldn’t be overlooked.

There are ladybugs crawling on yellow flowers, or there may be a spider or a grasshopper. ladybug-241636_1280Some of the petals may be larger than others, or even munched off by that grasshopper. Is there a bee? I think my point is made. There can be artistic comment in a single yellow flower in the middle of the page. But it’s not the only way flowers can be portrayed.

When you first read the first sentence about the yellow flower, what was the picture you saw in your mind? Go draw it!

As you read more, did the picture change? Draw it!

Artistic ability has nothing to do with it. Stick figures, stick flowers… same thing!

Don’t be held back because you say to yourself, “Oh I can’t draw!” We can all draw. We just all draw differently.

Don’t accept the label of ‘Uncreative’. Find the place your creativity dwells. Invite it out into the sunshine. Stretch it’s muscles. Give it a little pep talk and let it unfold. In the next two articles we’ll explore ways to develop our creativity. Are you ready for the journey?

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