WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

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

There are a few words that jump out at me from that definition:

- meaningful
- progressive
- original
- imaginative

I think each one of these words could generate a whole post in and of itself. The thing is, though, these words aren't mutually exclusive. You don't always have to have an original idea to be imaginative. And you can create something meaningful without necessarily being progressive.

In order to be creative, you simply need to be able to view something from a different perspective. Allowing your mind to open up to the possibility of seeing and exploring something common in a new way. If you are trying to paint, for example, you may apply a new technique that skews the reality of what your subject is. This is exactly was Picasso, Monet and Seurat did. Their subjects weren't unique, but they broke the 'rules' and applied new methods of painting them.

So I wanted to explore the elusive act of being creative. I think so many people believe they simply aren't creative at all. And on the flip side, people who spend their lives and build their careers by being creative often feel like they are chasing this elusive muse. Creativity is so highly valued, and we're all capable of embracing creativity in our work and lives.

Keep an eye out for more posts on this subject including how creativity works in relation to fear, imagination, and passion PLUS what the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need to live our most creative lives.

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