CREATIVITY

Why Creativity Matters

Without creativity nothing would exist. It is the act of creation that gives life to all things, The advancement of mankind comes from divine inspiration and the tools in which we use. But before I get into this essential topic any deeper I’m going to first define creativity.

What is Creativity?

Creativity is defined as, “the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.” (Oxford Languages)

So if we know that original ideas are used in the process of problem solving and artistic creation, how do we get them?

Where Do Creative Ideas Come From?

The creative process can be an illusive one and creative insight can seem to come out of nowhere. Creative people tend to have a consistent way to generate ideas. You may have heard that there is no such thing as new and original ideas because everything is based off of something, but that’s just true of life. There will always be a source. However, creative individuals offer a fresh perspective by exploring unique ideas with artistic creativity.

Art, writing, music, dancing, film, and much more are mediums of creativity that has made unknown men and women great, and entertainment for the masses for all generations. Highly creative people tend to use divergent thinking to pave a new path. Impossible doesn’t exist for them. They focus on the “What if” not the “I can’t”. They use innovative thinking to solve problems and create new outcomes.

Everything that has ever been made has a designer. Your shoes, your car, your house, your phone all have designers. There is also a designer for every natural thing as well. The trees, food, water, animals and yourself have been created at the hands of a designer.

God created all things. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:3-4)

You Have the Gift of Creativity

We are all gifted children. All children have the imagination of an artist. The trick is to wake it up and don’t let it slumber. In you is the creativity of the Creator. God made you in His image and therefore you have that creative spirit inside of you. You may not believe that but anytime you’ve made a decision you created for yourself an outcome. That outcome has brought you to where you are today. You are responsible for the choices you make which forge your future. You create every day just with your decisions.

Creativity involves an artist making many choices throughout the process of creating something that guides the finished product. Those choices are important because one small change could completely alter the outcome. You have the creative potential inside of you. To increase creativity and unlock deeper levels of your natural ability ask for divine inspiration and take off the limiting beliefs. Creativity starts where you end. When you focus less on yourself and more on your surroundings you start to discover the artistic beauty all around you that you may have missed.

It may take you multiple ideas to find one nugget of gold but that’s okay because just one good idea is worth the search. I believe a creative person is just like everyone else except for one thing. They act on that innate twinkling of unique ideas that come to mind. We all have what we would call a new idea but most don’t act on it. We are all creative but generally people fall primarily into one of two categories.

Producers and Consumers

Every one of us is unique. We all have an inherent passion for producing something, or consuming something someone else has produced. Producers have the obligation of creating something that gives value. Consumers have the obligation to voice what that value should be. The creative process between the producer and consumer involves problem solving to meet needs. Producers get value by giving value. Consumers get value by guiding what that value should be and receiving it. There are any things that connect us all together but there are two which seem to run deeper than the rest.

Two Things That Connects Everyone

These two things that connect humans are stories and creativity. Stories give us an adventurous path to go on as the storyteller takes us through the obstacles of conflict to arrive at the resolution. Perhaps it’s man’s quest for wisdom and entertainment that perks up our ears when someone says, “I have a story to tell.”

Creativity, the art of creation, gives us fulfillment to produce something of value and beauty, or enjoy the value and beauty of what someone else has made. There is an inherent drive to create and appreciate works of art and things that serve us.

We also feel connected to someone who likes the same food we eat, the same movies we watch, the same products we use, the same brands we wear. We look for ways to develop unity with those who are like us, and often times that appears in similar interests. To be connected and unified is so important. We are stronger together than we are apart and our purpose is to be unified. Creativity helps us connect with people on a deeper level. So it got me thinking, how can I be more creative?

The main way I’ve found to boost my creative thinking and imagination is by developing a creative process. I’m not claiming to have it all figured out because I’m always looking to get better, but most of my life I didn’t have a process and it kept me from being the highly creative person that I naturally am. These are the steps that I take when divine inspiration hits.

Creative Process

From my experience I’ve found that the biggest reason my creativity has be stifled in the past is because I let myself get carried away with other things in life. I didn’t give my creative abilities the attention they deserve. In order to prioritize them I make sure to make it a daily habit of what is called “creative output”. This creative process ensures you get the ideas out of your head and into the world. This may involve writing them down, sketching them, recording them, or whatever is necessary to bring them into reality. (For me it might be 2:00 am in the morning, and I’m scrawling something on paper so I can rest easy knowing I won’t forget it.) Refining will come later but the creative ideas need to have a place to live outside of my imagination in order to start the creative process.

Once the ideas have been initially captured I will flesh out the original intent by jumping into whatever artistic medium they require and starting the process of finalizing them. If it’s a written idea I’ll begin typing, a visual idea I’ll begin sketching. I’ll explore ideas to make it a more full version of what I initially captured (which isn’t much. Usually only enough for me to remember what came to mind).

As I’m doing this I’m looking for a simple, rudimentary completion of the ideas. It’s the idea of painting the whole picture before going into details. That way you have a complete vision of the finalization. At this stage I don’t focus on perfection just fundamentally what I’m trying to capture.

Next I take my fleshed out ideas and start refining them by adding details and the specifics that came to mind originally. This is probably the most time-consuming part but for me the most satisfying as I’m finally seeing my vision come to life. It will require a lot of problem solving but I think that’s part of the fun. This creative process works with any medium you are in just be familiar with the tools required to make it happen.

Now I have the foundation for which my 2:00 am fragmented ideas will become a highly creative project resulting in a beautiful work of art. Creating something beautiful, outstanding, or excellent isn’t easy but when you have a creative system in place you become much more qualified to take on the task. Great creativity tests the skill of the creator and by fire you emerge bright and shining. Your objective should be to equip yourself with a good creative system and arm yourself with the experience and knowledge of using the necessary tools for your medium.

Conclusion

You are naturally a highly creative person, made in the image of the Creator, who has talents and gifts stored inside of you eagerly waiting to be shared with the world. You can be immeasurably greater than you think but it’s up to you to make the choice. You can live without contributing by keeping your gifts stored up inside, or you can impact lives by choosing to serve in the most fulfilling way possible. I hope you choose the latter, it will be your most important decision.

Thank you for reading. I hope you got value out of that and please let me know what you’d like to see from me next. I have endless ideas but I want to hear from you.

Peace be with you.

If you’re looking for inspiration to get your creative juices flowing then I recommend checking out my list of the top books on creativity.