Expanding Our Definition of Creative Will Change The World
The world classifies some people as creative and others as not. Not only is this false, but it is harmful to our society. Creativity is both a skill, practice, and innate quality that exists within us all. When we only classify certain people as creative, we squander people’s potential, limit innovation, and restrict what being creative means.
Being human is means being creative. Sure, some people might reek of creativity, while others only hint at it but it is ingrained in all of us. To truly understand why everyone is creative, let’s break down the word creative. Merriam-Webster defines creative as “marked by the ability to create”. They define create as “to cause (something new) to exist”. Haven’t we have all caused something new to exist?
The “big” struggle many people find in being an artist is creating something that has never been done before. It is simply impossible. But that doesn’t mean creating isn’t. Because creating is really expanding on ideas we have already traversed. Everyone does this knowingly or unknowingly. If you have strung together a sentence describing a tv show different than how others describe it, that IS creativity.
Stop Getting Caught Up In Semantics
I know I am making it sound like each and everything that we do that isn’t us purposefully copying someone is creative and that is because I genuinely believe it is. We can argue over the semantics of a word’s definition endlessly and people do. But I want to tell you why we should define creativity my way.
The reason is simple: it spurs on more creation. The minute structure and restrictions are put on people, creating gets more challenging. It’s why toddlers are all in tune with their creativity. They don’t have restrictions and structure placed on them yet.
Creation is probably the fastest way to advance a society so shouldn’t we take away any hindrances to creations?
We spend so much time focusing on creativity as a skill and an innate quality when the most important part of creativity is that it is a practice. Let’s tear down this limited version of creativity and start focusing our attention on practicing creation in our everyday lives.
~~~
Nicole Asherah is an artist who connects people to intimate moments, feelings, and relationships experienced throughout life through her poetry, paintings, and photography. Her upcoming book, A Life Cycle: A Guide to Healing and Rediscovering Yourself, is available for preorder now here. It is out all places books are sold on March 14th! Please see more of her work at nicoleasherah.com
Check out my quiz Where are you in your life cycle? to better understand what you need right now to grow and become the best version of yourself.
If you enjoyed this blog, check out: