You Are Creative

There are novelists, painters, poets, knitters, composers, drawers, sculptors, filmmakers, choreographers…which one are you?

Nope. I shall not take the answer “I’m not creative” as an answer. Uh uh.

You see, I believe we are all creative. I believe we all have the capacity to tap into something greater and splash an interpretation onto a canvas of our gifting or choosing.

Maybe you grew up in circles where creativity wasn’t encouraged. Perhaps it was simply a “working” household, where the family did what they had to do to make wages and survive. Could be the society you lived in reinforced this route for surviving and thriving. Creativity wasn’t negatively viewed…it just simply wasn’t considered.

Or perhaps it was actively stifled. You’ve heard it time and time again; passions don’t pay. How is a singer going to pay rent? Perhaps creativity wasn’t seen as realistic and therefore forced out of your reality.

Maybe you were never free to explore and find your creative offering to the world. You never had the time (or the encouragement/mindset) to wander about in the artful forest until you found your space. You didn’t get to pick up the guitar to put it down to then try creating music with your buddy the clarinet. You didn’t doodle away until you found the paintbrush that became your new instrument of choice. Plain and simple, perhaps you haven’t discovered because you haven’t searched or known you were on a creative journey at all.

Now, I acknowledge the truth that humanity is comprised of a multitude of different personalities and traits, informed by genetic makeup, upbringing, and a bazillion other factors that make us who we are. Some are more scientifically or analytically inclined. This is all right and good - we need a world where the minds cover the gamut!

But, even the most left-brain of us has the capacity to create in some regard.

As children, we are all Picassos and Mozarts. We play in the sand, we create stories with our action figures, we pretend, we scribble - we are constantly weaving the world we inhabit. As we grow up, aspects of these fade, but the creative seed is still there.

Some are in a more fruitful environment or naturally more inclined to water that seed. But, the seed remains.

And, it’s always a good time to give it sunshine, water, and tender, loving care. Whether you’re a professional potter, trying a new approach, or a brand-new poet, diving into the life of limericks, the creative Redwood or seed is inside you, always present and able to be tended to.

So, I dare you. Sit down with a blank piece of paper. Draw something. Write something. Dream something. It’s in you to do so.

And deep down, you know it too.

More articles related to creativity:

What is Creativity and Who Decides?

The Three "I"s of Creativity

Turning Anxiety Into Creativity