What is creativity?
I work with so many incredibly talented creatives as a coach. They have been graphic designers, videographers, data scientists, oil painters, learning and development managers, community builders, HR consultants, nail artists and photographers (just to name a few).
You may not instinctively label some of these as creative roles but that's the beauty of creativity... it's difficult to define. It’s something that I have been giving a lot of thought. Especially as I continue through my own journey with creativity. Of course, as a 1/4 Manifesting Generator - I always like to define what I am looking at so… I went and did some poking around.
Creativity is a skill that can be developed and a process that can be managed.
A couple of definitions of creativity…
a) Creativity is the ability to create items that inspire and inform others, often in aesthetically pleasing ways.
b) Relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
c) Creativity is a skill that can be developed and a process that can be managed. Creativity begins with a foundation of knowledge, learning a discipline, and mastering a way of thinking. We learn to be creative by experimenting, exploring, questioning assumptions, using imagination and synthesizing information.
Personally, I resonate with option C the most. I feel like the image of creativity is paint brushes and pencils. When I ask people if they are creative I often hear ‘nah I can’t draw to save myself. Yet all of them have a foundation of knowledge and experiment in some way in order to synthesis information (see above definition of creativity). These magical clients I mentioned before didn’t identify with the term creative because generally, our view of it is so narrow. Whilst these clients may not have thought of themselves as creative, they were certainly experiencing the challenges of a creative mind.
A common theme I have noticed working with these brilliant humans is that there is a big fear of judgment - expressing themselves feels risky. You might think ‘join the club, so does everyone’ - and I would agree with you… to some degree. I think a creative experiences this fear in a different way. As a creative, you are taking your craft and putting a little piece of your heart and soul into it and then sharing it with the world. It’s your interpretation, your creation that is being held up for judgement. Putting yourself out there through creative expression requires vulnerability and learning to lean into vulnerability is a complex process. Check out this classic on vulnerability by Brené Brown.
Using myself as an example...
When I started writing (as an angsty teenager) I never showed anyone. I was actually embarrassed about it, I thought people would make fun of me. Fast forward into my 20’s the inner dialogue became centred around one main thought - 'who would want to read what I have to say'.
As I started on my journey of building a more compassionate relationship with myself, things changed. I plucked up the courage to share a piece of my heart and was rewarded through a few nice compliments (thank you external validation - which isn’t all bad btw but more on that another time). A few months later I did it again. At key moments of my life (in the peaks and troughs) writing has been a tool to express my joy and also my grief. At other times of my life, I have been completely disconnected because the pressure to make something 'good' crept in and sent my creativity somewhere far away. Fast forward a couple of years and now I do it daily. I write and share pieces of myself with people, every single day and I love it.
My creativity is just using my body as a vessel to create what it wants to create…
There are moments when I feel like a mere conduit. My creativity is just using my body as a vessel to create what it wants to create - those moments are pure magic. My previous article 'What is home to you?' is a prime example of that.
Writing was my first creative love. Sharing pieces of myself has gotten less scary and I think claiming my creativity has a lot to do with that. I am learning how to protect my creativity from perfectionism. In addition to identifying whether there is a difference between writing for myself and writing for others - that's something I am still wading through.
Developing my self knowledge and building a compassionate relationship with myself has allowed me to identify my needs. Understanding my needs has allowed me to create healthy boundaries. Healthy boundaries has allowed me to build authentic and vulnerable relationships where I feel safe, seen and heard. Feeling safe, seen and heard has supported my ability to express myself through my creativity. Expressing myself creatively allows me to deepen my relationship with myself and others… And the cycle continues.
Get to know yourself and express yourself, or vice versa. Either way, it’s your creativity. Don’t leave it shut away as a forgotten part of you. The world wants to see it, hell I want to see it!
I’m rooting for you 🧡
If you have a definition of creativity that you particularly like, please share it below for your fellow curious creatives or creatives-to-be.
