Myth Buster- "I Am Not Creative"

Have you identified yourself as not being creative?  It's a myth!  It's not obvious to all so, let's bust it this very second. If you have said, heard or believe that you are not creative, please read on to realize that you are mistakenly WRONG.  I have had my share of hearing this sad statement from all ages of students and adults alike. Over the years, especially in the years I have spent in classrooms as an art educator,  I have heard a lot of people say a lot of  things about creativity. Some of those things, I hear again and again.  Many of those complaints – or myths – about creativity are contributions to this negative attitude towards the creative process.

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” — Edward de Bono



“I am not creative”.  I wish that we could erase those combination of words and the statement from world language.

When I hear someone precisely say those words, I cringe.  The truth, of course, is that we are all creative.  And while some people are naturally more creative than others, we can all have very creative ideas. The problem is, as we grow older, most of us learn to inhibit our creativity for reasons relating to work, acceptable behavior and just the notion of being a grown-up.  Pablo Picasso, Spanish Cubist painter (1881 - 1973), made an epic statement and observation when he said: "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."  The child-like, no fear attitude is inhibited somewhere along the line as we grow older and the notions that we are no longer or were never ever creative in any way take over our being. When we lose that, we have to fight harder to be free to express our creativity.

Image:brainzooming.com

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” — John Steinbeck

Some think that “Creative people always have great ideas”,  That is certainly not true but we still think that creative people  always have ideas.  Well, newsflash... we all have ideas.  Maybe creative people tend to share or act on their ideas and that is one reason why they seem to always have them in the first place. Over time, we may then tend to forget creative people's weak ideas and remember their great ideas because they have made points to express them or act on them.

People say they are not creative to colleagues, family and even to themselves. Indeed, this is one reason why people believe they are not creative: they have got into such a habit of censoring their creative ideas, by telling themselves that their ideas are stupid, that they no longer feel creative. Next time you have an idea you think is stupid, don't censor it. Rather, ask yourself how you could improve on the creative idea that you do have.

        “Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” — Albert Einstein

Club Creative Studio has adopted a working motto that serves as inspiration.  As we continue to do things to: Be Creative Everyday", we are less likely to set aside ideas that we may think are not "creative" and it is an ongoing process to not sensor the ideas but test them out and proclaim the results to others.  We are creative everyday, and you can be too.  Be creative in thought or action.  Challenge yourself to recognize when you're creative and continue those contributions.