Something From Nothing

I think our individual creativity is our personal response to the world around us in any given context. There are many instances in which one may be creative. Give someone a pen, and they might draw or write. Give someone bricks and they might build. Put on some music and they may dance. Give them drums and they will play. Give them a problem that they may solve. Give them the tools to lead a better life. Educate them to look differently at the world around themselves.

The human mind’s creativity knows no bounds in any area of life.

I think perhaps it is a great shame that we as a species have got into the habit of measuring creativity. We might say someone is very creative if they produce a work of art, but if someone else only creates scribbles on a page, then we may say they are not very creative. All too often creativity gets confused with innovation. Innovation, originality and novelty perhaps are measures in themselves and should thus be looked at separately.

The act of living in itself is a creative endeavour. Were we not so advanced as a race, we’d be creatively hunting and providing shelter for ourselves on a daily basis. In the modern world, social situations provide endless opportunities to be creative. Creative with words, for example, creating in jokes, nicknames or slang. If you are playing a game, how you respond and therefore play the game is a reflection on yourself creatively.

In these terms, creativity is very simplistic and basic, but it is creativity nonetheless. Once provided with tools, or certain situations creativity increases greatly in complexity. When working in a team, creativity gets even more complex. Now you have each individual’s response to a certain problem and then their individual response to everyone else’s response! This is why businesses have brainstorming sessions with large groups of people, because in doing so you can ensure that the creative ideas being put forward are also innovative.

Back to innovation again. Inevitably innovation is important because it is the holy grail of creativity. My earlier point was only that not all creativity should be judged on how innovative it is. For instance personal endeavours or hobbies. In business innovation is key to success, so we have people learning how to maximise their creativity and really nurture it.

Can creativity be nurtured? Yes because unfortunately there are those that simply shy away from life. People that are not truly living. Take someone who just sits on the couch all day, interacting with no one, watching TV. They are hardly living life to any extent at all.

I think creativity can be nurtured by opening our minds, and trying new experiences and constantly challenging how we think on a daily basis.

Whilst I may have said earlier that creativity is all around us and should not be measured, I do however think it should be encouraged. Someone might not be that innovative, try as they might, but they should still be encouraged to be creative as it will undoubtedly enrich their lives.