Let me ask you something:
Would you describe yourself as a creative person?
From experience talking to groups of all shapes and sizes, my sense here is that many readers would immediately, and as a gut reaction, say NO.
And for some of you, quite an emphatic ‘no’ at that.
You might describe yourself as organised, or helpful, or logical, or OK-if-someone-shows-me-what-to-do….but creative?
Oooh, no, that is not for me. That is for Other People. Gifted, arty types.
You know the sort.
Now, my instinct here is that the concept of being creative will require a bit of re-branding before we can move forward.
This was my own belief until only a few years ago – a deeply held belief that because I can’t draw and am not very artistic, therefore I am not a creative person. An organised, structured person, yes, but not creative. I had creative synonymous with artistic, and therefore had completely ruled myself out of ever considering any kind of creative pursuits.
Of course, this is rubbish.
Yes, you heard me – this is rubbish: we are all creative in different ways.
Why do I say that?
Because creativity covers a huge remit from painting, sculpture and crafting, to gardening, problem-solving, making something new out of something old. In embracing my own creativity, I have discovered a part of myself that was previously dormant. More, I have learned to do new activities that refresh and stimulate parts of me that are out of practice and underused.
I can’t draw very well at all.
But I love to upcycle old bits of furniture and picture frames. I bake, cook, and create new meals out of random things lurking in our fridge. I make things, and structure our home into somewhere calm and beautiful. And my favourite thing at the moment is to capture and celebrate memories contained within photographs in a tangible way.
A high-functioning spreadsheet is incredibly creative, and very beautiful. And I am as much in awe of those who can produce such things as I am of those who can paint stunning works of art.
Bringing order out of chaos – finding solutions that work and a pathway out of a previously entrenched situation is both creative and opens the way to freedom.
Have you put yourself in a box because you don’t think of yourself as creative?
Are there creative pursuits that you loved to do as a child, or young adult, that have been squashed out of your life? How much of our time do we use to explore this, or give outlet to our creativity?
What stretches and inspires you?
Exploring the creative side of ourselves, and giving ourselves time to do this, taps into our right brain functioning and allows us to switch the left brain off – the structured, organising, to-do lists, practical parts of us. In so doing, we often gain a different, fresh perspective.
Imagine that from now on, you happily describe yourself as a creative person. What would that then encourage you and free you up to do? How would it change the way you perceive yourself?
And how might that restore your soul, stretch and grow you and open up new worlds of possibility?
What one thing within this whole broad area could you introduce to your week?