Are you creative?

For the longest time I thought about the word creative as an adjective, as in, “she’s so creative.”  Creative described people who liked to think a lot, look at different perspectives, come up with innovative ideas.  Creative people see things a bit different from everyone else and are fun to be around.  Off the wall ideas are more likely to be described as creative. 

Creative was an adjective that described the person or the idea.  And it was totally subjective.

But lately I have been struck that this is not really the nature of creativity.  Don’t get me wrong; novel ideas are definitely important for the creative process.  But I had the wrong part of speech when I thought of creative as an adjective.

Creative doesn't describe the person or the idea, it describes what they do. (don't get all grammatical on me)

A creative person creates things.  Painters, writers, musicians, filmmakers, designers, architects, developers, marketers, are easy to imagine, but creative can exist in every job, or not.  Or completely outside their job.  The measure of creativity is the creation of something new, not the imagining of it. 

The thinking, the imagining is just a means to an end.

I work for a creative marketing agency, and the other day I was in our storeroom and found myself looking around at all the artifacts on the shelves.  The company started as a video production shop and there are literally hundreds maybe thousands of tapes of various formats that are a window into the history of the organization.  I walked around and read the names off one tape after another and tried to imagine the story behind each.  Some of these tapes go back 21 years.

As I read the various titles and dates I had a profound sense of what it means to be creative. 

To commit yourself to create something that didn’t exist before.  To actually make it happen. And then to put it on the shelf, to move on and create something else. 

Lather, rinse, repeat.  Forever.

Creative doesn't describe what a person is, it describes what a person does.

So I ask all of you reading this who consider yourselves creative. 

Are you happy with what are you creating?  What's on your shelf?

Comments

[Amy Renzulli]

This post makes me think about my (creative) relationship with my family. We are scattered around the country now and there is one thing that I miss dearly - "making things." When we are together and have time on our hands, you can pretty much count on one of us saying "Let's make something!" We spent time quilting, making pillows, painting, making jewelry, refinishing furniture. It almost didn't matter what the activity was, we enjoyed each other's company and we created something of beauty together, something that one of us could display in our home. I just got back from my dad's home and art studio and as always, I came home with various pieces of art. My favorite things are those that are cast to the side as not being worthy of hanging in his gallery. I am happy to find a home for those things!

I just wish that I could find a little more time to just make something.

Thanks for a post on one of my favorite topics!

[Heath Port]

Great topic. I come from a family of "creators." My grandmother and mother are both accomplished painters, my father is excellent at taking raw materials in his shop, picturing something and then creating it either through wood working, metal working or any number of fabricating techniques. I really feel it sticks in your DNA because my brothers and I all love creating things, but we each have our own unique way of going about it which makes it a lot of fun to see what we come up with. With my family the joy really seems to come from the process of creating rather than the end result.

On a related topic, if you haven't read it already, there is a great book called "The Rise of the Creative Class" by Richard Florida that I would recommend reading. It covers how the United States has moved from a primarily agrarian society to one based on manufacturing and is now moving into a creative era where many occupations in the professional world are based on creating.