Enhancing Creativity

My best friend has said—for years—“oh, I’m just not creative” in comparing herself to me and other friends of hers whom she feels are creative. And yet, this is a woman who always has solutions to problems that others can’t quite get to, who has given the most imaginative birthday parties for her kids I’ve ever seen, who always finds a new way of doing something when it’s needed… she’s one of the most creative people I know! So why does she think she’s not ‘creative’?

I think it’s the mystique of the word. Until the 18^th century, creativity was considered to be divine inspiration—anything ‘creative’ you did had to come from a god because you’re only human. But with the Enlightenment came the idea that perhaps it was the way a particular individual perceived something that allowed him/her to be creative. This ushered in the idea that creativity was something you as an individual owned—you did it, it was your perception, your ingenuity, that saw a ‘creative’ way to express your art or solve a problem.

The phrase ‘thinking outside the box’ has been popular for a long time now—and that’s merely a synonym for thinking creatively. It means to think differently than anyone who’s come before, create a different painting, a different story, a different machine, etc., than anyone else. Think differently.

So why am I talking about this? Because writing is one of the ultimate ways to express your own unique take on the world and the people in it. But it’s not easy. It takes a certain amount of courage to think differently—you have to shake off the familiar and attempt to perceive using your own, unique point of view. So how do you do that??

It all begins when you expose yourself to the new. That can be something as simple as taking a walk down a street you haven’t walked down before or going into a coffee shop you haven’t been to before. You’ll find that when you expose yourself to new stimuli you have new thoughts. And new thoughts can lead to creative ideas.

Let’s say you go into that coffee shop and have lunch. While you’re eating you get to observe employees and customers going about their day. You see quirks of character that might be different from your family and friends. Perhaps you overhear an argument between the couple eating in the booth behind you, perhaps you notice a bit of flirtation going on between the cook and one of the waiters, perhaps you see a man in a corner booth who’s mesmerized by a particular waitress—watches every move she makes. All of these observations have the potential to spark a creative thought that could lead to a story. For example, what could be the reasons the man is mesmerized by the waitress? Does he want to date her? Or is he her ex-husband? Could he be her long lost father? Perhaps he’s a serial killer who only goes after women who remind him of his mother and she fits the bill. Perhaps he’s the shyest guy on the planet lamenting that he’ll never be able to know a woman like her. Perhaps he’s a restaurant critic evaluating the service in the café. And on and on and on.

Want to give yourself the chance to be more creative? Do one new thing each day…and see where it leads. You might surprise yourself with how ‘creative’ you can be.

Copyright © Diane Lake

20Nov16

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com