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"I'm Just Not Creative Like That"

This is THE sentence that makes me sad.

Somewhere along the way we were all taught lots of "rules" about creativity.  Should you be looking to add to THE list of THE rules, here are a few:

1. Creativity can only look one specific way.  Remember, the creative people are the ones who can draw horses so they look like real horses.

2. You're either creative, or you're not.  Some of, sadly were born to live in black and white and look longingly at the ones who live in color.  Those of us who were born to live in black and white might be served casting as many shadows as we can on the color of others so they don't love it too much.

3. If you are ever labeled as NOT creative then that is the label you'll stick with until you breathe your last, non-creative breath.  No label-switching.

FOUL!

Yesterday I took my Idea Book to play with while Marcus was in his gymnastics class.  As happens when a grown up plays with pretty colors, I garnered a great deal of attention.  A couple of women wanted to flip through the journal and they oooh'd and aaaah'd over the pages and made comments like, "Where do you find the time?"  (Answer: we all find time for what we feel is important.)  OR  "I'm so busy being a mom, I could never find time to do this."  (Answer: same as above.)

One mom kept flipping until she looked up wistfully and said, "I'm just not creative like that."  It was as if she were seeing her eight year old self and damning the person who drained her of color.

Oh, Lordy Be!  Rescue us all from our rules.

I wished I'd had an hour instead of 37 seconds left to chat with her, to tell her that she was as wrong as wrong could be.  But, thirty-seven seconds really only allows for, "Oh yes!  Everyone has it in them to do this!"  and then from her as she worshipfully closed my book, "Well, not me."

What I WANTED to say was: YES, EVEN YOU!  Especially you!  Maybe someone taught you that creativity is about some special beautiful final product.  And maybe seeing this journal reinforces that idea for you.  But, I've been practicing tapping into the River of InSpiration for a LONG time.  This is what years of practice looks like for me.

Maybe you're confused about the difference between Creativity and Skill.  Years of practice gets me more polished skill in using tools of art.  But, a moment with a pencil or a marker, a moment with a wish to make something out of nothing gets me Creativity.

Creativity isn't about the product (though one we really like is positive reinforcement to do it some more).  Creativity is about what we thought it was when we were little... It's about the process.  It's about using all kinds of tools to create ourselves.  Maybe the tools you use to create your Self aren't found in an art box in the front seat of your car.  Maybe your tools are the tools of recipe ingredients, or problem solving, or peace-making.

Get your color back, Stranger!

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