Many people are in the category of the self imposed (un)creative prison. I believe that everyone is essentially creative, but through many years of negative conditioning, you are led to believe that only highly specialized artists can be creative. I’m here to say otherwise.
There are many people in various job positions where creativity is frowned upon. That is also one of the reasons why as soon as something goes wrong, the speed of adaptation and response to the situation would be slow. Just do what you’re told and stick to it.
Like the classic sci-fi robot that is only programmed to do certain tasks and nothing else. Something out of the scope happens and you have a headless chicken running around.
On the other hand, The joy of giving birth to that creative moment is priceless. It is a great fulfillment and affirmation of the immeasurable brilliance that humans are capable of.
And besides, creativity can actually lead to job fulfillment. No way… but it’s true! It makes a person feel surprisingly good when they are acknowledged and their ideas actually accepted and implemented. How about stress relief? Or even finally finding a solution to tricky relationship issues? The list goes on, and all it takes is exercising a little creativity.
There is an elitist mindset out there for designers who think that anything not blessed by a designer is sure to be ugly and desperately needs to be saved. Sure, there are many Ads or business card designs that begs to be redone, but the important key is to realize that any one of us can be creative, as long as you let it happen. And that’s exactly what I hope to achieve with this blog.
Having killer graphics software skills is one thing, and having 100% open minded, unbiased creativity, is quite another. You can’t buy that kind of creativity with all the money in the world, yet it doesn’t cost you a single cent.
Do not fall for the stereotype of a creative person as someone that merely has moneymaking skills in a creative area. Creativity is idea sharing based on our individual experiences. You might say, I just use my creativity to think of new ideas, but it doesn’t mean I will share it. Oh right, we don’t share anymore, not unless someone gets billed for it right? The idea will eventually be shared in one form or another, it’s just that we have gotten used to entering money into the equation.
We should nurture creativity in others and in ourselves. With the abundance of problems in relationships and in the world today, we need solutions that actually fixes the problems instead of sweeping them under the carpet for another few years. Creative solutions, not the same old crap that never worked.
I have been wondering what I should write about for my first blog post, or even what this blog should be about. After all, there are already tons of sites out there promising to make you a Photoshop Super Star in 10 easy steps. Or those sites that will deliver crazy Search Engine Optimization for your blog all before dinner time. While I see the benefit of such guides, I just don’t see that as the most worthy goal for me as a person.
*Flashback* Now that I think back, I first started with the idea of using Advertising to convince people to help improve the world. So I went and learned all about marketing and advertising. Well actually, the start wasn’t quite as noble as all that, but it sure made me feel better for having to sell useless corporate crap to people.
Then I realized that perhaps I could distill that idea into using any form of Design to accomplish the same goal. Of course, many media visible designers are already on that boat and I’m definitely not trying to get on that overcrowded vessel.
So that brings us to today. Is it possible to make creativity a wonderfully engaging, amazingly fun, supremely practical lifestyle that anyone and everyone can relate to? Creativity, the life band-aid! I believe that creativity not only empowers you to advance in your career, but it can also bring you a greater joy and fulfillment in every day life. Instead of feeling frustration with a difficult problem, creativity will allow you to connect all the knowledge in your head to many innovative solutions. It’s really a win-win situation.
And who knows, maybe with enough people being happier and able to think of better solutions, we may make this a better world yet.
Hate it? Love it? However you feel, please share it here, I would love to hear it! Welcome to CreativeHerb.com ~
I hate when people say how they aren’t creative and only a few people are creative. Believing that is a sure-fire way to be dull. Thanks for debunking the myths about creativity.
Richard X. Thripp’s last blog post: Subject vs. Persona in Blogging
I try to promote creativity in everyone I meet, it often shows them new joy that they didn’t know existed. Now I’m not saying I’m the god of creativity by any means but exercising creativity is just more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
The way I see it, more ppl being creative means more ppl being happier and that eventually comes back to me.
Wow that took a while on the iPhone