Are you creative?
By Canellita
@Canellita (12029)
United States
February 27, 2009 2:10am CST
I meet so many people who admire the talents of others but insist they have no amount of creativity whatsoever themselves. I find this astounding because if we all were not capable of creativity we would never solve any of our problems or try out new things. Arranging an outfit to go out of the house even involves being creative with line and color in finding something that flatters you while making a personal statement about who you are. What kind of flowers you plant outside your house, improvising a recipe... so many things in our day to day lives use creativity.
Even people who think they are unable to make things can be shown how to take their ideas, likes and dislikes and focus them in creative ways.
How do you use creativity?
6 people like this
23 responses
@mz_Ira (1090)
• Philippines
27 Feb 09
I think everyone is creative in anyway.. They tend to say they dont have the creativity within them because they most likely compare themselves to others which is not really proper. Creativity is to be revealed time to time..
I am creative in times of there's a need.. I always thought I cannot do anything but I guess I have too many of them that I cannot use until such situations arrive.
3 people like this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
28 Feb 09
It's true they say that base on what they see as creativity coming from other people. I see it all the time.
@eggpoy (133)
• Philippines
27 Feb 09
In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in a new ways or from a different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives. Test of creativity measure not only the number of alternatives that the people can generates but the uniqueness of those alternatives. The ability to generate alternatives or to see things uniquely does not occur change; it is linked to others, more fundamental qualities of thinking such as flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity or unpredictability and the enjoyment of things herefore unknown......
From: Human Motivation
2 people like this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
11 Mar 09
Well having those abilities and using them is being creative.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
28 Feb 09
I'm a writer, respectively. If I had no imagination or creativity, I wouldn't have written six books last year.
I wouldn't have been any good at deductive skills, so I wouldn't have helped friends investigate issues...been any good at giving relationship advice, or been ready to apply for a criminal justice college last year...if I didn't have an active imagination.
People underestimate and overestimate themselves, constantly.
Makes me frequently want to go up to them, shake them, and say "THINK MORE" or "DON'T YOU KNOW YOURSELF?"
...but perhaps it's only particularly bad 'round these parts, I dunno. xD
Imagination is integral to what I call "true intelligence", without imagination...we'd be hard pressed to do anything, because most of the way our brain works and learns is thanks to our ability to envision and imagine things.
So saying one doesn't have any creativity is like saying one doesn't have any intelligence! It simply can't be true in most folks' cases.
I create my own recipes. I love trying new things. I off and on run my family's house (which boy, wanna talk about needing creativity! Without it my diplomatic skills would be THE FAILURE of the year ).
I've always got a business scheme or two waiting in the wings, from year to year....for example, this year it's farming!
So I guess I'm a very creative person ^_^
1 person likes this
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
10 Mar 09
They were six of a seven book series that I'm now trying to finish.
They're supernatural dramas (my own genre that I made up), about a cursed boy and his struggle with forces beyond his control (a homicidal Uncle, a father in an insane asylum, the fact that nasty creatures seem to be attracted to him...), I was basically taking the cliche story you occasionally find on a book shelf or on the silver screen "the dude was cursed and he has to struggle to retain his huamnity" and decided to try to turn it on its head, I basically wanted to show the humanity in what we think of as "monsters" without tampering with personality categories -- you know with the angry mob and female sympathizers. To make the cliche...NOT cliche, and something more "realistic" and different.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
10 Mar 09
Sounds interesting. Do you have any of it published yet?
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
10 Mar 09
Congrtulations on your six books that is a lot of work in one year. What were they about?
@eagle_f15 (1827)
• Malaysia
10 Mar 09
I am creative not in everything but in some things. I am creative in choreographing dances for children. I worked as a dance teacher for 5 months preparing children at a kindergarten for their annual concert last year. It was fun. I was given the free hand to create dances and using music for the children. In my free time I also like to make bookmarks for friends on special occasions and if it goes with a present, I like to gift wrap it myself. This is what I am creative at. Not so much in the area of cooking and sewing.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
29 Mar 09
Hey, that's great! I am willing to bet you are more creative about cooking than you think!
@tudors (1556)
• China
3 Mar 09
yes, i am very creative ! i think it's easy, read more, observe more and think more, to learn more. an creative person should use their head often, develop such habit.
To be creative, you have to first believe you are creative.
It is important listen to everything and not judge or come to your own conclusion prematurely. This is vital if you are to create a product that wins in the eyes of your customers and employer. Remember, listening does not equal simply hearing.
Brainstorming can be an effective way to generate creative ideas; however, before brainstorming about your subject at hand, try warming up the creative juices.
and to learn. Obviously, the more you know about everything, the more you can come up with creative ideas by linking things together. You wouldn’t know how Physics and landscaping might go together unless you knew at least a little bit about both.
Therefore, the more you know, the more you can create.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
29 Mar 09
I think that just plain old thinking is the first step.
@ankit_620 (496)
• India
27 Feb 09
Someone cannot instantly become creative. Creativity comes from within it is just so natural. For me i am a creatie person because i have a creative mind. My imagination power is quite high. My view of seeing things is very different from others. It is not what i have developed and practiced upon i was just born with it.
@ankit_620 (496)
• India
2 Mar 09
yes you got a point.....in mostly in many people life...as a child they are forced
by their elders to do things they want them to do. some pollute thier minds also
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
7 Mar 09
Even when they are not forcing them to di something their way they can still hamepr creativty by creating conditions that do not foster it. A teaching assistant that used accompany kindergarten students to my art class wouldn't let them talk. It wasn't her place to manage my class that way and I allow my students to talk as long as they are not too loud and as long as they are not doing it while I am instructing them. When they are working on their projects they are supposed to be enjoying themselves.
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
28 Feb 09
I think everyone is born with it inside them. We are all very creative as children until some adult comes along and ruins us because things have to be done their way or not at all.
@palonghorn (5479)
• United States
28 Feb 09
I have used creativity in many ways through the years. I mainly use it in my photography and scrapbooking now. But, I have always been one of the creative people. But, I do agree with you, that most people who think they are not creative, actually are in their everyday life.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
10 Mar 09
Thanks for your input! I love that photo of the dog in the snow on your profile! What a great moment to have captured with your camera!
@Bluepatch (2476)
• Trinidad And Tobago
27 Feb 09
I use creativity to write. I've been toying with writing for years now. I believe a lot of people have creative talent but don't admit it. I love to write and one day soon I will be a writer.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
10 Mar 09
Maybe it's hard for those people to admit it because of what they think of as creativity. It may make them uncomfortable to be labeled or put in the same category as someone they see as really creative.
@lynnemg (4529)
• United States
28 Feb 09
I am creative, but do not always use my creative talents. It is a mood thing for me, if I am in the mood, I will do something like draw a picture, make a blanket, or something different. I may get a creative idea on how to organize my closet or something, it strictly depends on my mood. Some days, I feel no creativity at all. I have even been known to use creativity when dealing with my kids and their behavior. One time, my daughter sat down inthe middle of the store because I told her she could not have something. She thought that would make megive in. Instead, i sat down next to her. It worked, she got right up and told me that Mommy's don't do that!
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
10 Mar 09
Your daughter sounds like quite a handful! My creativity can depend a lot on my moods as well.
@beautifulmood102 (23)
• China
1 Mar 09
i think i have creativity more or less.i'm keen sometimes ,just in my own world.i like to write down what i thought in my own words. and i treasure my thought for not all readers of my articles can fully understand what i talk about. and i do believe enveryone has his/her own potencial creative world whether one knows or not.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
29 Mar 09
It sounds like you have found the ways in which you are creative.
@greeneyedlady (1439)
• Netherlands
1 Mar 09
I try to be creative in many different ways. Cooking, interior designing, picking out outfits, finding substitutes when you don't have the real thing and most especially in Web Designing, I love to be creative in my Web Designs! ;)
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
29 Mar 09
You sound like you are totally in touch with your creative self and apply creativity to every aspect of your daily living.
1 person likes this
@Citychic (4067)
• United States
28 Feb 09
I agree with you, everybody has a certain amount of creativity inside of them. We are all creative beings although some maybe a little more creative than someone else. I use my creative talents everyday. Particularly in cooking. If I don't have a certain ingredient that I need, I will just do without it and go ahead and make dish anyway. Most of the time people cannot even tell that there is an ingredient or two that is missing. My thoughts on it is, you gotta use what you got. And make the most of everything. Thanks for posting Canellita, I participating in ur discussion. Huggs,E.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
10 Mar 09
This is exactly the sort of thing I am talking about. Improvising in the kitchen this way requires creative thinking and intuitiveness. Combining flavors calls upon the same "talent" as combinig colors and shapes.
@mindyjessica (48)
• United States
28 Feb 09
Personally, I think people who think that they have no creativity are just lazy people looking for an excuse.
It's true that some people are MORE creative than others, but with practice, anyone can become "creative". It takes practice and hard work to think of good ideas, and the more you do it, the better you get.
It's not so much an innate talent as it is a skill.
And I use creativity to think of ideas to type in this post. (:
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
10 Mar 09
Well, I don't think laziness is the same as thinking you are not creative. I think the problem is the way people think about creativity. Too many have a limited view and don't realize creativity is very broad.
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
27 Feb 09
I am a little creative. I love to write and I love to make collages. I can also sing, dance a little bit, and I can make certain things.
@checapricorn (16061)
• United States
27 Feb 09
[i]Hi Canellita,
I would say I am not creative..LOL! I can decorate when materials are provided but I will not say I am very good at it..LOL!
I might be checking samples from online or magazines..LOL!
I also admire these people who can work and have a lot of great ideas![/i]
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
4 Mar 09
Even decorating with magazinr pictures uses creative and critical thinking. You are just applying your creativity in a different way from someone who designs the things in the magazine photos.
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
27 Feb 09
I am creative in some ways, but not in otherws. I am not artistic when it comes to art, and I am not very crafty, but I can write creatively. I am also very resourseful. If things can not be done one way I have a pretty good knack for finding other solutions to certain problems. I am also fairly creative when it comes to cooking. I am consantly making up my own recipes, and usually cook from the hip.
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
4 Mar 09
It seems to me that you are very creative because you use creativity in more than one aspect of your daily life.
@hotsummer (13837)
• Philippines
27 Feb 09
i am not a creative person too. specially about art . but i agree that we can in some ways be creative in our day to day activities and find some ways to be creative in every thing we do. but there are limits. and there are just some people who are really much more creative and can learn to be more creative much faster than most people. i guess those are the people most people consider only as creative and those who are not as good are just called non creative. though i think that we can find some creative side of us from time to time but they are short of being exceptional. i will just consider myself and i think too will just see me as creative if i am really exceptional in what i do. if not i don't think that people would my creativity as real creativity to be admired of.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
4 Mar 09
Well, there is creativity which is about figuring things out for yourself and then there is aptitude and talent which have to do with how well you "perform" tasks. I think anyone who has accomplished something has something to be admired. It takes discipline to be successful at things and follow through.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
27 Feb 09
I think I am creative. I don't work and I am being forced to stay at home so I always be crative to dig stuff to do.
1 person likes this
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
28 Feb 09
I guess if I were forced to stay at home I would always be looking for creative stuff to do with my time. It must get to be a challenge on some days though.
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
28 Feb 09
I think only you can truly answer what you need but I appreciate you sharing your perspective on this subject. You seem like you might be an innovator.