Most people don’t think of themselves as creative because they can’t draw or paint or write novels. “I am not an artist,” they say, “I don’t know how to create.”
Not true.
When you were little, you did know how to create.
You drew stick figures in the dust.
Or you made up songs.
Or you served tea to imaginary creatures that adults couldn’t see.
Or you played games with your stuffed animals, all of whom had names.
Or you played war with your soldiers.
Or you built a fort out of your parents’ sofa cushions.
But somewhere along the line, you were told you were wrong.
Or, that you needed to be quiet, or still, or stop playing silly games.
Or, that you needed to understand in the real world, people didn’t do that.
And, you listened to them.
But…
Who says you can’t make sugar cookies with sprinkles on top by emptying out the entire container of sprinkles and dipping each cookie into the mound?
Who says that when you are told to draw a stick figure with a line under it that your line can be perpendicular, up and down, not horizontal, side to side?
Back then, you didn’t worry about being wrong.
Or whether or not you were creative.
Or whether or not your game would work.
Or whether you were good enough.
Or whether people would laugh at you.
You just used your imagination to amuse yourself.
Engage yourself.
Entertain yourself.
Express yourself.
It’s how you made sense of the world. It’s how you formed a connection to the world around you, linking your perspective to what you saw around you. It’s how you experimented with being “you.”
You weren’t afraid to be wrong.
You weren’t afraid to fail.
You weren’t afraid to look silly.
…as long as it was fun and made sense to you. That’s all that mattered.
Who told you that you were wrong to do it that way?
You didn’t want to be scolded or made to feel bad because you did it “wrong” so you worked to do things like everyone else.
You wanted to be normal.
You wanted to be “right.”
You wanted to be praised for doing something correctly.
You wanted to fit in.
You wanted to feel like you belonged.
You wanted the approbation.
So, you started doing things the way everyone else did them.
You stopped experimenting.
You stopped listening to your inner voice.
You stopped trusting yourself.
And, that’s how you “lost” your creativity.
But, I am here to tell you that your creativity is still within you. It may have gone down deep inside and you may have forgotten how to access it, but “it” is still there.
Your creativity lies within you. It’s just waiting to be activated.
Waiting to be listened to.
Waiting to be acknowledged.
Waiting to be encouraged.
Waiting to be trusted.
What can you do, today, to tap into your creativity?
It’s waiting for you…
