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Along Life’s Way
Yes,
You Are Creative!
By Lois E. Wilson
When teaching art classes, no matter the age of the students, I would
often hear the excuse: “I can’t draw a straight line.” My response
would be “That’s good because there are very few perfectly straight
lines in nature.”
People are inclined to sell themselves short when it comes to their
creativity which involves much more than the ability to draw.
Creativity is defined as the ability to produce by imaginative skill or
to bring into existence something new.
An attribute of creativity is thinking about events and things around
you in a different way. Artists may not draw a jug as it appears. They
may think: “If I were the liquid in that jug, how would I have felt or
what would it have looked like as I was poured into the jug, slid down
its inside surface into a pool at the bottom?” In this manner, a fresh,
abstract painting may be born.
When planning meals, cooks may ponder: “How will the food taste and how
will it look on the plate? Should I make a flower arrangement for the
table?” They adjust the ingredients, seasoning, and decorations to fit
their vision.
Creativity encompasses sensing a problem and focusing in on its
solution. One can become so caught up in the process that the rest of
the world is tuned out.
No matter the challenge—whether it’s writing, producing art, solving
scientific theories, planning your home’s decorative scheme or garden
theme—working on goals, people are being creative. They are learning to
be fluent and flexible in approaches as they think of responses beyond
the usual.
Failure may result, but in the creative process it may act as
motivation to try a new track to the solution. It is a fresh look at an
old problem.
You may have noticed that when one is truly immersed in the creative
state, the raw materials being used are often in disarray. It may be
because of the fierceness with which the problem is attacked. Bless the
mess; it spawns success!
You will recall that you have faced challenges before, small and large,
and solved them in new ways. In other words, you were creative. Add
that word to your self-description. Exhale the old, inhale the new
armed with the confidence that you are creative and can address any
challenges which come.
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