We are ALL creative

My dad doesn’t think he’s creative. He doesn’t draw, sing, write, or dance. As far as I know, he has never tried to develop any artistic skill. He studied to become an electrical engineer in college and spent his entire work-life at one technological company. After he retired, he became an EMT and has worked on an ambulance crew or in an ER ever since. He is very mechanically minded and can fix just about anything.

And he is SURE he does not have a drop of creativity in his blood.

Of course, he MacGyvers things ALL the time. Like, he designed and built a floating coal bin when I was a kid, he built custom cabinets for his kitchen (even though he’s not a carpenter), he’s totally rigged up his motorhome with numerous improvements that use the space better and improve on the overall design and utility. Almost every time I see him, he’s telling me about some improvement he’s made, something he’s built/designed/figured out how to make better/easier/simpler. Not everything he’s dreamed up has worked, but that’s true of every creative person. But on a cellular level, this man is driven to solve problems and come up with solutions.

And even though he’s one of the most creative people I know, he is positive he’s not creative.

My mom is an incredible artist, and perhaps because he sees the beauty she creates with pencils and pastels, he equates that with creativity, but not his own strengths and skills.

But here’s the thing: creativity comes in all colors, shapes and sizes. It’s not just related to the arts. It’s about making. It’s about solving problems. It’s about thinking outside the box and coming up with a new or different way of doing things. It’s about figuring things out, whether that’s on watercolor paper, on stage, in a kitchen, or in a laboratory or workshop. It’s about making something new—whether that’s with yarn, paint, words, electrical wiring, wood, cells, pipes, or flour and sugar.

We are ALL creative. We all have that capacity. All the inventions of humankind? THAT’s creativity. Human history is drenched in it.

It’s who ALL of us are.

So go ahead and stake claim to your own inner creative force—whatever way, shape, or form it takes. It’s there, I promise you.

Warmly,
jen