CREATIVITY ≠ ART (… AT LEAST NOT ALL OF THE TIME)
When we talk about “creative people,” we usually think about our photographer friends, or our friends who write poetry, make music, dance, paint, sculpt, design. And while these are usually creative pursuits, creativity is in no way exclusive to the art world. Here’s a bad definition for creativity: the ability to make something characteristically artistic. It’s bad because creativity isn’t really about what we make, it’s more about the making itself.
I have beef with the whole “I’m not creative” “Yes you are” conversation. You hear it every once in a while. Someone is sharing about their latest artistic undertaking and someone else in the conversation replies with “wow, I wish I was creative, but I’m just not.” And then the other person responds to that with suggestions of artistic hobbies to take up. I’m sure it’s well intentioned, but it misses the heart of creativity. Creativity is not exclusive to art or artistic pursuits, our culture has only deemed it as such.
Creativity is not about making art. Creativity is when we bring something into reality which did not previously exist. It taps into the heart of what it means to be human, and what makes us so special in the animal kingdom. The big thing we have that others don’t (besides the super cool thumbs) is imagination. We can visualize a reality that is not yet and take steps to bring it into being. And this is the heart of creativity, it’s those moments when we see nothing and decide to fill it with something; where we see chaos and dream of how to bring order. And while, yes, this happens in the art world, it also happens just about everywhere else. Looking at what isn’t and imagining what could be, that’s creativity. Just like a painter looks at a blank canvas and imagines it full of color, we look at our schedules and imagine them full of things and events that matter to us. Just like a potter looks at a block of clay, so we look at our finances and decide what to make of them. Anytime we do that, look beyond what is and imagine what could be, we are being creative.
To step into creativity in your life is to realize you have the power to make something. Your life does not have to only be reactive, it can be proactive. Your days don’t have to be a constant response to what is being hurled your way in the tornado of life, but you can look into the nothingness and make something that previously wasn’t.