Creativity...Choose It.

Lessons Learned

Where Does An Idea Start?

Where does an idea start? In a daydream? In a puddle of fun? In a pressure-cooker of deadlines? In silence? In a hubbub? Alone? In a crowd? In short, yes. Anywhere. Everywhere. Anyone. Everyone. Anytime. All of the time.  Like a busy river flowing, so too are ideas from the mind of each one willing to leave creativity’s spigot on thus allowing and encouraging the flow.  But I am not creative, you say. Hogwash, I say. Right-brained, left-brained, linearly inclined, spatially inclined, whichever of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences one exhibits the greatest proclivity towards, no one particular sort of thinker possesses the unilateral ownership of creativity. Creativity is not some exclusive club to which membership is acquired through being an artist only. True, artists are usually exceptionally creative, but so are scientists, parents, teachers, athletes, volunteers, emergency workers, farmers, builders, sales people, baby sitters, chefs, writers, etc, etc, etc. Anyone who must improvise or “make due” with what they have to generate what they need is one who demonstrates creativity. Creativity belongs to us all. Creativity exists within us all. Creativity is a way of seeing that pushes back just a little against the beige lockstep of conformity. The “should be’s” that drive our thinking in the comfortable direction of the status quo frequently tramp down our bubbling creativity in deference to the security that comes from thinking like everyone else. It’s there, though; never doubt it. Creativity is a choice, everyone’s choice, and it is absolutely the birthplace of ideas. To release your creativity, you must be willing to be a bit vulnerable, willing to be a bit playful, willing to take a little risk and jump into the sandbox of imagination, willing to take a little bit bigger risk and leap out of the box of convention, willing to laugh at yourself and dance gently around the burdens of life for a few minutes, willing to imagine solutions to unsolvable problems, willing to use ten times more adjectives in telling a story, willing to unashamedly  try on the rambunctious outfit of an optimist, willing to whisper yes when every fiber of your body is shouting at you to say no, and willing to leave the heavy cloak of self-consciousness outside the door. This is for starters. If you are willing to creatively and open-endedly, non-judgmentally and joyfully play, then you might just find yourself inundated with ideas for all sorts of exciting new things.