Over the years, I have seen a trend, including by psychologists, to define being “creative” in such a way as to exclude almost all of us. If you don’t paint or sculpt or write or compose music, you are not creative. I suppose if we want to only call artists creative, we can. However, in my practice, I have approached creativity in a different way. I believe that human beings are creative by nature. We come into this world creative.
Of course, we can all point to people who are super creative, just as we can point at people who are superstar baseball players. That does not mean we cannot go out and play catch.
When people tell me they are not creative, I ask about their childhoods. Who can look at children at play and not see creativity in action? Do people claim they were the exceptional uncreative child? Of course not. What they express is that someplace along the way they became less creative. They did art in school but stopped. Their sense of imagination was curtailed. As they aged and took up adult activities, they spent less time on creativity, and skill sets atrophied.
People will tell you “I am not as creative as I was as a child.” I find that one of the saddest things I can hear. In my practice, I see people in middle age, unhappy with what they have acquired in life, feeling something is missing. When these clients can engage in some creative impulses, it can be like magic reborn.
Creative energy does not have to be art. It does not have to be music. It can be anything where you are bringing something to life using your imagination. For me, I love role playing games. I use my creativity to build worlds for the players and characters to inhabit those worlds. As we play the games, together we creatively tell a story together. These activities are part of feeding my spirit. As I talked about the importance of scheduling, I make time for these activities. They are as important to me as anything to do with work.
Finding what you are creative at can be difficult as an adult. After all, most of us have not engaged in that sort of activity in years. Think back to what you have enjoyed in the past. Is there some way you can explore that endeavor again? Maybe you appreciated painting or poetry or solving puzzles. Or maybe you liked to dance. Whatever it might be, if you don’t have a creative outlet now, my guess is that part of your soul is looking to be nourished. You don’t have to share it with others. This is for you. As you have heard the old adage, “Dance like no one is watching”
Encourage your creativity. Your soul will thank you.
