What is creativity?

Today I asked a group of young children to tell me what creativity is and their answers were superb. Creativity is making something from scratch. It is making something out of nothing. It is when someone makes a new dance routine.

Making something

One thing seems to come through all the answers that the children gave me; something is made. That something may be a physical item such as a new machine or a picture. It may be a performance such as a dance routine or a comic sketch.

Physical and mental creations

Therefore we can say that creativity leads to the production of something that can be looked at, handled, listened to or even understood. Creativity involves ideas and the development of ideas.

Something new

For us to talk about creativity we need to be looking at new ideas, new works of art, new moves, new performance routines. Creativity is newness. Creativity is freshness. To be creative is to give birth. Something is produced from scratch and apparently from nowhere.

What if?

Creators are pioneers. Each and every one of us has the potential to be a pioneer. Whether we are a writer, a performance artist, a martial artist, a painter or whatever we are, all we need to do is to consider a different set of circumstances than we are used to. The question of “what it” will lead to new ways of doing things.

Break the rules

The best “what ifs” are the ones that go against our instincts. They provoke us to resist our habits and push us out of our “comfort zone”. That means not being afraid of failure. That means not being afraid of making mistakes. That means not being afraid of falling flat on your face. That means seeing a path as unconventional but trying it any way.

It starts in the mind

What differentiates us from most animals is our ability to show insight, to visualise events that have not happened – “I wonder what would happen if I stood on that chair….” – and this has given us the ability to reach great heights, to the moon and beyond. We need to free our minds from habitual thinking and start feeling, sensing and assessing from scratch.

Mindfulness is the key

Mindfulness allows us to go from ‘small’ mind – small thinking that emerges from a very narrow view of the world, centred on an egotistical sense of self, full of boundaries and fears – to the ‘big’ mind which is cosmic, creative, boundless and where anything can happen.

You only live once

So whether you are a weapons specialist who likes Kobudo routines with nunchaku, bo, katana or kama or you want to push yourself in another creative pursuit you need to start by freeing your mind from your usual modes of thinking. Let yourself break as many rules as possible, consider as many ‘what ifs’ as possible, at least in your mind. Daydream. It’s fun.

So step into the unknown…

Once you begin to think differently, slowly but surely you can start to act differently. Speak to the person you never spoke to before, try the radio channel you never tuned into before, take the route to work that you never drove before. Be left handed for an afternoon (or right handed if you are usually a ‘leftie’). See the world from a different perspective.

Here to help

There’s nothing I love more than helping others to break free of their habits and gain confidence doing new things. If you are interested in embarking on a new journey, give me a shout.