Creativity

When I was younger and even into early adulthood, I didn’t saw myself as creative. Looking back, I realize the truth was slightly different. I had not given myself permission to try anything that felt vaguely creative.

I also had a narrow definition of creativity. To me, creativity meant being able to draw or paint. Since I never spent hours with a paintbrush and I was fairly certain I did not possess that kind of talent, I decided creativity was not for me.

Some people find their talent early in life. I remember visiting a relative’s house when I was a child. I could not have been more than seven years old. I have a clear memory of my younger brother climbing onto the piano stool and banging the keys one by one, as children do.

After a while, I realized he was playing Mary Had a Little Lamb.

I asked him how he was able to do it. He would have been about four years old at the time. He said something like, “I don’t know. It was there.”

It was there.

Huh.

When I banged on the piano keys, it was definitely not there for me. (Just so you know, my brother went on to become a musician, producer, teacher.)

So I moved on to other pursuits, specifically reading. Creativity found me later in life.

When I look back at pictures of myself, especially during my college days, I almost always had a camera with me. I took hundreds of pictures. I captured people, places, moments and details. I did not see any of this as creative because I assumed everyone else could the same thing.

It was not until I was in my mid-40s that I began to see things differently.

The images I was capturing with my camera and sharing online started to receive comments like: “How did you do that?” “What is that?” “I like it.”

I started paying closer attention to the images I was taking. I started thinking about my camera differently. I started seeing my eye, my choices and my perspective as part of the creative process.

Maybe I was creative after all.

I truly believe we are all creative in some way. Creativity does not only live in painting, music, writing or photography. It can show up in how we cook, how we solve problems, how we arrange a room, how we plant a garden, how we tell stories, how we make people feel welcome.

I’ve started watching cooking shows and I’m amazed by the random ingredients chefs are given to create something beautiful and delicious. Being able to throw together a meal that nourishes and delights people is truly creative.

Based on my own experience, I think we sometimes need to step back from looking at what we do with indifference. We may need to stop dismissing the things that come naturally to us simply because they come naturally.

Instead, we can lean into what excites us.

What gives us energy? What sparks in us when we put our hands in garden dirt? What happens when we are alone working on the special project that will not leave us alone? What are we drawn to again and again, even though we are not calling it creativity?

Creativity is in us. In some cases, it is lying dormant, waiting for us to pause long enough to hear it calling. In other cases, it has been there all along, quietly present in the way we move through the world.

I believe creativity is part of our essence.

I also believe we owe it to ourselves, our families, our friends, our neighbors and the world to uncover and unleash our creativity and talent.

We never know who might be supported, encouraged, comforted or inspired by what we create.

Sometimes what is ‘just there’ for us may be exactly what someone else needs to experience.

Tell me about your creative moments. What sparks your creativity? What does creativity look like for you? I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email: aderonke@abwilsonconsulting.com