Re-Defining Creativity

What do you think creativity is?

If you’re not much of a reader, you can watch the video discussing the same topic here!

I’m gonna be a bit corny and drop the literal dictionary definition on your right now:

Creativity |
the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, or relationships to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination

Transcending traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships… If you’ve seen any of my videos or read my blog, you’ll come to know that my personal take on that first part is quite simple: creativity is necessary when there’s no instruction manual or obvious method to accomplish a goal. 

The second part is what I want to talk about today. 

First of all, I hate that the definition includes the word “create,” and for our understanding we’re going to replace it with “discover.” I also don’t like that they chose the word “ability” because that implies that some are “unable” to be creative, which, to my core, I disagree with. I much prefer to describe creativity as a process.

Next, I want to focus on the words  “meaningful” and “interpretations.”

The meaning or significance of something is completely subjective to each person. Value is only relative only to the individual. Others may hold or adopt similar meaning and value, or their might exist systems that define the value of something relative to an organization, community, or society, but it can only truly be understood—be felt—at an individual level.

And I love the inclusion of the word “interpretations” here because that is exactly what happens when you are being creative, you are interpreting the meaning and value of elements, ingredients, components—whatever you are using to compose your idea. 

Skill is actually a separate thing. It’s the technical and physical means of converting an idea into reality and is employed at the end of each creative process. Skill and technique encompass the “tradition, rules, patterns, and relationships” section of the definition.

What the hell am I on about? 

I want to invite you to shift your understanding of creativity as a special ability or talent that some people have to develop new and imaginative ideas and results, and rather look at this way: 

Creativity |
a mental and emotional process of reinterpreting familiar ideas, rules, patterns, materials to discover new meaning or purpose. 

Why is this such a significant shift in mindset? 

Because it means that all that is necessary to be creative at a personal level is to find new meanings in everything. And because one of the fundamental characteristics of human beings is their imaginations, which allows us to hold ideas and images and even emotional experiences in our minds that don’t actually exist in reality, this means we are all very capable of creativity. 

Ok great, now we know what creativity really is, but what do we do with that?

Here’s another shift I want to invite you to. Creativity is not an act of making or doing, Creativity is an act of choosing. Ultimately, it is a process of Curation. Within a few minutes, anyone in the world could be taught to apply paint with brushstrokes that very closely resemble those of any famous painter. The ability to put paint on canvas is a skill, but it is not an act of creativity. Those painters were, stroke by stroke, choosing where each color should lie; stepping back, observing the effects each application had, and choosing whether or not to accept it or change it; changing the depth or width length of each daub of paint in relation to the brush strokes, and in relation to their own interpretation of the work. And depending on the nature of the artwork, whether it was a commissioned portrait or a personal work, each choice was made with a blend of emotional and intellectual awareness: Does this look right? Does this feel right? Is this helping me tell the story I intend, or capture the scene the way it feels, or reflect the character of the subject. 

While there are limitless ways to train and learn skills, there’s no way to measure the “correctness” of a creative choice from the perspective of the creative person. It’s simply a feeling. 

The same way a gallerist arranges photography throughout a space or a DJ arranges music over time according to the crowd and the space, any creative project requires a mix of intellectual and emotional observation, awareness of traditional ways of doing things, and an openness to seeing everything, large and small, from new perspectives. And with all this awareness, you make one choice after another. 

You can practice this simple new approach to creativity in so many ways in your daily life. 

1. Change the way you consider your world!
   As you observe both simple and extraordinary results of other people’s creativity, try to imagine the types of choices they had to make in that process. In architecture, maybe they had to choose between square doorways and arched, or one large window vs several smaller ones, a vaulted roof vs a slope. Or in music, the choice to add background vocals, or a horn section, or lots of reverb. What kinds of effects did those have on the final song? How would it be different with other decisions?

2. Imagine different methods or approaches in your daily life.
   Look at something you do the same way all the time, and see if you can achieve the same end result with a different order, or using different tools. If you make the same breakfast every day, think about the flavors and textures and colors, and consider preparing each part of the meal in a new way, or presenting on the plate to create a pattern or shape, or try reconstructing it into a sandwich. If there’s one frustrating thing in your day, like how the cars are arranged in your driveway in the morning, or the flow of a daily meeting, look at the pieces and patterns that exist and ask yourself, what would make this run more smoothly. Fill in a coloring book with unexpected hues, make a playlist with unexpected genres. Have fun, play!

3. Play Wildcards. Throw Curveballs.
   Explore unexpected ideas for your future household projects, or play devil’s advocate when helping friends brainstorm! Throw intentional curveballs. Watch how these shifts in perspective generate new and unexpected ideas later on. Usually extreme suggestions aren’t right or even possible, but they’ll help you find unique and unexpected options to choose from that you maybe wouldn’t’ve considered before.

And remember, it’s an emotional as much as intellectual process. When I’m unsure about what direction to go with personal creativity, sometimes I’ll prompt myself with this: “How do I want to feel?” And let that guide each choice.

Find new ways to curate the pieces of your life and see how it changes the way they cause you to feel in their new configurations, with your new interpretations. This simple process is a surefire way to get the wheels of your inner creative machine turning.