When you have trouble feeling creative it may mean you’re stuck in the rut of prejudging your work.
What is creativity anyway? For each of us there is a definition of what being creative means. Every one can define creativity in their own way. Sure there are culturally accepted explanations of what it means to truly be creative – an artful master. We accept Da Vinci, Picasso, Monet, Michelangelo and so many others as creative masters and we are trained to compare our work to theirs. While comparing our work to the works of others is a valid way to learn their techniques, it is not a way to judge the validity of our own creativity.
You may have been told that you are a dreamer, unique, imaginative, an innovator or many other descriptions that say you are special. But does this mean that you are anymore different than any other person? I would argue, that what others are noticing about you is that you are not afraid to show your uniqueness, rather than that they are not creative. Take a look at these quotes and see the graduation from every day uniqueness and the kind of creativity that actually makes something in a new way.
Dreamer
“If you can dream it, you can do it” – Walt Disney
Disney knew that if you could see something in your dreams you could also make it a reality. The first step to any creation is to dream. Writers do this when they brain dump their ideas or ponder there words over a cup of tea. Painters fill sketchbooks and look closely at the world that surrounds them. Dancers try new steps during practice sessions and watch other things, studying their movements. Dreaming is a time of letting your creativity flow.
Unique
“The artist isn’t a special kind of person, rather every person is a special kind of artist.” – Ananda Coomataswamy
There is creativity in every one of us. You are born with elements of creative expression. You dress, eat and move in your unique way. In your very uniqueness you are creative. This is the essence of what differentiates you from another. A unique idea has taken some form that makes it different from others in a special way. This is something for you to accept rather than judge.
Imaginative
“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein
“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.” – Albert Einstein
When you imagine you let your uniqueness take you on a journey. This journey lets you experience other creative possibilities. You may even have powerful emotions as if you were really living this journey. To be called imaginative simply means you can take this type of alternate journey at will. Sometimes when you get stuck it may mean that you need to free yourself from expectations and remain open to new thoughts.
Innovator
“Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.” –Theodore Levitt
It is what you do with your specialness or rather the actual act of using it to manifest your creativity that differentiates between one type of creative and the other.
We often get ourselves stuck because we’re leaping from the beginning of our ideas to the final step. You might say you have a great idea and then think that it is all ready to go or should be easily constructed, but if you don’t allow yourself to go through the artistic journey you may get jammed.
Read more posts by Sandy Nelson, artist, creativity and life purpose coach, speaker and inspirational writer. Sandy blogs for JenningsWire.
