What is Creativity?

On the Internet, it is easy to find many definitions of the word creativity. In real life, this word is over used, and often abused, with its meaning changing according to the needs of the speaker. Mostly, it is seen as something which one possesses, or not. People often use sweeping statements like, “I am just not as creative as he is,” or “My younger son has the creative streak in him.“

It has come to be widely believed that creativity is a gift bestowed upon us mortals by some divine power. If you are lucky, you have it, otherwise you are stuck with being a person with little, or no, imagination.

So, which one are you? Are you a creative individual, or are you one of the unimaginative ones?  But, before you try to answer that, try to answer this question : “What is creativity?”

To me the word creativity simply implies the creation of something new, from something that already exists. Creativity is not something that one is gifted with, but is something that one can learn over a period of time.  In fact, I believe there are  three easy steps by which you can definitely become more creative than you are today, regardless of the field you operate in:

1. Observe. Look around you – at any point of time you are surrounded with people and things. Pay attention to them. Each one has a story to tell, if you will but listen. Even right now, sitting at my desk – one of the most boring place I spend my time at – I am surrounded by things. A pencil, which once was a part of a tree in some forest. A letter that arrived in the mail this morning from another city, almost 500 miles from my town – it must have passed many hands before it fell into mine. The list can go on, but I am sure you get the picture.

2. Imagine. Now let your imagination run wild. Think of the wildest forests that the tree – from which the wood for your pencil was extracted – could have grown in. Think of different kind of personalities that the mail men who handled the mail could have possessed. Maybe the mail got  delivered to the wrong address, and someone returned it to the post office.  Unlikely scenario you say, but things like that do happen. Plus, it does not matter if they happen or not. It is your imagination and you can let it run as wild as you want.

3. Create. You have imagined it, now it is time to put it on paper, or any other medium of your choice. You can pick up an instrument you like – a pen, a paint brush, a guitar – and start bringing your imagination to life, in a way no one else can. We are all similar, and yet we are unique, and that will show when you create. It won’t be that hard, if you have gone through steps 1 and 2.

In fact, William Wordsworth has defined poetry as “emotions recalled in tranquility“. This definition is very similar to what I have tried to define above –  live your life to the fullest, go through the entire gamut of emotions life has to offer, use your imagination to magnify these emotions, and finally create your a version of your emotions for others to enjoy.

Do you agree with this definition of creativity? If not, how would you define it?

Image Courtesy : nkzs from sxc.hu