Create a Better Life: Day 40: Content Creation: You ARE Creative Part II

Most people believe that they are NOT creative. Those people are wrong! Here are 50 ways I can prove it.

I’ve traveled all over the United States helping people to embrace their creativity. If I had a dollar for every time I heard this phrase, I would be able to waive my fees. “I’m not creative.” That’s not really what they mean. I use live art (speed and performance painting) in my presentations and I think what they really mean is “I’m not artistic.” (For the record they’re usually wrong about that as well but that is a different story for a different day.) They may not feel that they have artistic ability but that does not mean they are not creative. I believe everyone is creative. Everyone has the ability to create, to alter the course of their lives. To do things that have not been down and try things that have never been tried.

For the moment, just to remove the confusion, let’s remove creativity from the realm of the arts because the truth of the matter is much of creativity has nothing to do with the arts. The old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention” is absolutely true. Most of creativity revolves around solving problems. So let’s examine several examples that should prove my everyone is creative hypothesis:

1. If you’ve ever run out of money before you ran out of month, you got creative.
2. If you’ve ever repaired something with duct tape, chewing gum, etc. you got creative.
3. If you’ve ever made up a child’s bed time story, you got creative.
4. If you’ve ever gotten pulled over for speeding and concocted a story to get out of the fine. you got creative.
5. If you ever found yourself detoured on a road trip in the days before GPS and you found your way to your destination, you got creative.
6. If you’ve ever used any tool for something other than it’s defined purpose, you got creative.
7. If you’ve ever made up silly lyrics to a song, you got creative.
8. If you’ve ever found an easier way to complete a task, you got creative.
9. If you’ve ever doodled in a boring meeting you got creative.
10. If you’ve ever found a way to save money on something you needed, you got creative.
11. If you’ve ever lied, you misused your creativity, but you were still creative.
12. If you’ve ever worried about something that never happened, you once again misused your creativity, but you were still creative.
13. If you’ve ever written a letter, you got creative.
14. If you ever rearranged the furniture in your room or house, you got creative.
15. If you ever arranged flowers or planted a garden, you got creative.
16. If you’ve ever outwitted someone, chances are you got creative.
17. If you’ve ever won an argument, chances are you got creative.
18. If you’ve ever cooked a meal and altered the recipe to make it taste better (even if it didn’t work), you were creative.
19. If you’ve ever found a way to get someone to do something they didn’t want to do, you probably got creative.
20. If you’ve ever pretended, you were creative.
21. If you’ve ever found a way to calm or entertain a baby, chances are, you were creative.
22. If you’ve ever done something you didn’t know how to do, you were creative.
23. If you’ve ever repurposed something into something else, you were creative.
24. If you’ve ever decorated anything, you were creative.
25. If you’ve ever come up with a sarcastic comment or witty comeback, you were creative.
26. If you’ve ever described something to someone whose never seen it, you turned pictures into words, a very creative act.
27. If you’ve ever convinced someone to buy something, you are probably quite creative.
28. If you’ve ever fashioned a tool or device to make some every day task easier, you got creative.
29. If you’ve ever built something without relying on instructions, you’re creative.
30. If you’ve ever calmed someone down or made them feel better, chances are you were creative.
31. If you’ve ever written a clever social media post, you were creative.
32. If you’ve ever made a play on words, you were creative.
33. If you’ve ever brainstormed ideas with other people and you contributed anything to the conversation, you were creative.
34. If you’ve ever caught yourself humming a song you’ve never heard before, welcome to the ranks of the creative.
35. If you’ve ever said something profound, in that moment, you were creative.
36. If you’ve ever helped someone out of a jam, you may have been creative.
37. If you’ve ever come up with a good explanation of something complicated you’re creative.
38. If you’ve ever made up a game, you got creative.
39. If you’ve ever come up with the perfect gift, you got creative.
40. If you’ve ever accomplished a goal in a new and different way, you got creative.
41. If you’ve ever thought outside the box, you got creative.
42. If you’ve ever improved on anything that already existed, you got creative.
43. If you’ve ever helped someone find hope, you probably got creative.
44. If you’ve ever tried to see things some someone else’s perspective, it required a certain amount of creativity.
45. If you’ve ever dared to imagine a better future, and looked for a way to make it so, you were at the very precipice of creativity. (Did you jump?)
46. If you’ve ever found a way to motivate someone, even yourself, you got creative.
47. If you’ve ever found a way to remedy a bad situation, You got creative.
48. If you’ve ever found a better way to do anything, you got creative.
49. If you’ve ever found a way where there appeared to be no way, chances are you got creative.
50. If you’ve ever come up with a lengthy list of ideas to prove your point, you got creative.

I hope you get the idea. I’d be willing to bet there is not one person who has not done at least one of those things and therefore, everyone is, or has the potential to be, creative. We need you to be creative now more than ever. Sure we need artists to beautify the world, to entertain and motivate and amuse us, to spur us on to reach for new heights, but we also need more. We need people to create ways to find clean potable water in parts of the world that lack it. We need people to find new cures and new ways to right wrongs. We need people to realize that they have the potential to make a great difference and maybe even change the world.

We need you to grab a hold of the gifts, talents and abilities that you have been given and to use them to help and serve humanity in a multitude of different ways.

We need you to be creative!