I woke up this morning, thinking about creativity and how it is expressed. People ask me how they can be more creative. And others tell me they aren’t creative at all. I believe creativity is more a way of looking at life and living it with authenticity and openness, and less about talent. My thoughts returned to this topic over and over today, convincing me that this was what I would be writing about tonight.
It is easy perhaps to read a novel or study a painting or listen to a musician pour out his heart through his music and think Wow, this is a work of art. This is a creative soul. And that would be a true thought. Creativity can be expressed through such recognizable endeavors as painting and sculpting, writing and poetry, drawing and photography, writing concertos and playing the violin.
And…creativity can be expressed in a child’s colorful crayon drawing and lumpy clay vase, through graffiti spray painted on train boxcars and a joke made up on the spot, in the baking of a friend’s birthday cake and any time the words are uttered Once upon a time…
And…creativity is present in a magic trick and fostering animals, in making people laugh and dancing your own steps before an audience of one, in exploring new roads by turning left at the intersection instead of right, in seeing new possibilities in an ordinary object, in creating an amazing party and by dressing up as a clown to sell baked goods at a yard sale.
Creativity is the soul expressing itself, whether by writing a best seller or sewing little girls’ dresses or building a toad house. It is a way of life. The way to be more creative is to be open to receiving inspiration and accepting those invitations that come as little intuitive taps on the shoulder or a thought that begins…I wonder what would happen if I did this…
Joseph Chilton Pearce said To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong. I agree and add we must just lose our fear period…fear of making a mistake, fear of being made fun of, fear of failing, fear of being ignored. Creativity comes sometimes when we least expect it. It can be unconventional, bold, and exciting in its expression. And it can be quiet, solitary, and scary when it births an idea into your soul.
There is no right or wrong way to express creativity or make art. It is everyone’s birthright and all have the ability to allow imagination and creativity to flow through their lives, for that is what it is…energy flowing and finding outward expression. The more we stay open to that flow and say “yes” to those nudges and invitations, the more creative we become. We begin to see the world differently and experience life with a sense of wonder and delight.
In the movie Dead Poets Society, John Keating shares these words with his students, From Walt Whitman, Oh me! Oh Life! Of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish, what good amid these Oh me, Oh life? Answer, That you are here, that life exists and identity, that the powerful play goes on and you might contribute a verse. What will your verse be?
What will your verse be? What will your recipe, sketch, dance, building, joke, song, poem, design, game, garden, speech, outfit, invention, compassion, cheer, story be?
If it comes from your creative heart, no matter what it is, it will be perfect…and it will be needed. Share your unique brand of creativity with the world.
