By Jess Cook
Creativity is using your mind to generate new and imaginative ideas, then put them into action. Not putting them into action, is not creativity it’s just using your imagination. Creative people have the ability to perceive the world in new ways, find hidden patterns, and make connections in the world around them, and to then generate solutions. Again, there are two parts to creativity: thinking, then put it into action.
“The creative adult is the child who survived.” — Ursula Leguin
“The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.” — Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use the more you have.” — Maya Angelou
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.” — Kurt Vonnegut
Innovation is the implementation of a new or significantly improved product, service or process that creates value for business, government or society.
Some say creativity plays no part in innovation— that innovation is its own discipline, and creativity is not. Creativity is a discipline and a crucial part of the innovation process. Creativity is the main ingredient in innovation.
Can creativity be learned?
Of course, the answer is yes. George Land did a stud and he found that we are born creative then as we develop and grow we learn not to be creative. My cousin is a school teacher, she talked about a teacher, starting in kindergarten and going up to the 6th grade, asked each class, “who can draw and elephant for me? The kindergarteners, all of them raised their hands. As the teacher progressed to each grade the number declined. We can remember those creative skills we had as children. Creativity is a muscle that can be worked.
It starts with knowledge, learning, and mastering a new way of thinking. You can start by experimenting, exploring, questioning, assumptions, and using your imagination. Learning to be creative is like learning to hit a baseball. It requires practice to develop the right muscles and creating an environment in which you can be free.
Overcoming myths about creativity
People believe s that only special, talented people are creative and they are born that way and that diminishes our confidence in our creative abilities. The ideas that unique peple such as Shakespeare, Picasso, and Mozart were `gifted’ is a myth, according to a study at Exeter University. Researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics, and sports, to find out if “the widespread belief that to reach high levels of ability a person must possess an innate potential called talent.”
Drawing to be more creative
Draw and doodle to be more creative. Just like in kindergarten, get out the crayons, pencils and glue and get to work. Do not worry about how good or bad your drawing looks. Draw, draw, draw!!!. Do it every day. Pay attention where your mind goes and what ideas you come up with. If you have a problem you are working on, start drawing. It doesn’t even need to be about what the problem is. As you draw all learning senses are engaged. You get into the gama waves of thinking. There are so many benefits to doodling and drawing.
Keep on creating