Creativity: “the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.”
When I was young, I was convinced you had to be a talented artist or musician to be considered creative. After graduating from college, I furthered my education and became a certified life coach, and during one of my courses, I remember the instructor telling us the following: “Everyone is creative. It is your job to honor your clients’ creativity and help them explore the creative parts of themselves.” I sat there shocked. “Well, if everyone is creative, does that mean I am, too?”
After this realization, I have never looked back.
When I fully embraced the fact that everyone was creative, I gave myself permission to explore what that meant for me.
Writing was a passion of mine, so I began to take my writing to places other than my private journals. I also started dabbling in calligraphy and photography. Along with my life coaching training, I created several new coaching workshops. By no means was I the best at any of these new endeavors, but that wasn’t the point! I was exploring what it meant to be creative whether it was through ideas or actions while giving myself grace along the way to try, fail, but sometimes succeed!
It’s important that you recognize you, too, are creative! Embrace and explore this truth that you may not have believed or known about yourself.
Here are three ways to add creativity to your life:
1. Choose an interest.
As I said before, I did not shine in any “artsy” way. But I knew what I liked, so I picked my interest based on where I had the desire to learn. What is it you’ve always wanted to try? Your creativity and resourcefulness can show up in many unique ways. For example, cooking is a creative outlet, but maybe your creativity is found in coming up with a brand new recipe rather than cooking the meal.
2. Find beauty.
What motivates my creativity is noticing the beauty around me. Sure, I’m not a photographer, but if I am on a mission to take a photo, I start to see everything around me from all different angles and perspectives. And when I am experimenting with calligraphy, I appreciate the beauty in a simple sign on a local store’s bulletin board or an email newsletter’s logo that I hadn’t noticed before. Looking for the beauty is key to unlocking your unique creativity.
3. Make space.
Some of you may craft, dabble in graphic design, or find other creative outlets. Whatever you choose, make space to be creative. If you don’t sit down with your journal, reach for that paint brush every now and then, or sit and create new ideas, you aren’t honoring the creative side that is in all of us.
“Creativity is the way I share my soul with the world.” –Brene Brown
Let’s share our souls with one another and embrace our creativity.
