Welcome to part eight of an ongoing series based on my book, The Endless Creative.

If you’re just tuning in, I recommend starting at part one.

Creativity

Stories begin with a hook—something to grab the audience’s attention, to pique their interest and get them to read on, or sit and listen awhile. Creativity seems to come out of nowhere, but it also starts with a hook, something of interest, something that draws you—the creator—into the act of creating. And your creativity will, in turn, hook others.

But even before that point, the instant of creation, there is one big honking question we must ask—What exactly is creativity?

Maybe that seems like a senseless question, like asking, what is the sky? All you have to do is point up and there it is. Creativity can feel the same—obvious.

Creative is an easy word to use and is quickly understood without much thought.

“Her lectures are so creative, I’ve never heard anyone teach like that.”

“What a creative way to play the national anthem on rubber bands!”

“Oh, that’s a very creative use of paper towel rolls—a complex Rube Goldberg machine just so you can push a button and receive a mint fifteen minutes later.”

Those are all examples, but not creativity itself, just as pointing out the sky is not defining what the sky is.

Creativity is not everything—it has borders. But not everyone agrees on where they are. The question “What makes one thing creative and another not?” can lead to some highly subjective answers.

In some ways, creativity can seem indefinite, intangible, and mysterious. Other times, it’s obvious, tactile, and apparent. Tomes have been written on the subject, but rather than go on all day about the definition, how about we keep it broad and simple:

Creativity is the ability to make something new by use of one’s imagination.

Perfect? Hardly. But it’ll do.

Instead of getting tied down by a definition, let’s look at some defining characteristics—marks of creativity, if you will.

Creativity is…

•              fresh

•              surprising

•              unique

•              unexpected

•              eye catching

•              inquisitive

•              interesting

•              suggestive

•              unusual

•              expressive

•              provocative

•              insightful

•              fun 

A list such as the one above does not tell the complete story, nor does everything creative always have all those marks. You may have heard the well-known fable from India about the blind men and the elephant, each trying to describe something while only getting it partly right. Like that elephant, it can be difficult to take in all of creativity at once. We’re used to looking at specific parts.

It seems we have to get creative just to define creativity. Even a person with clear vision who has seen an elephant for the first time would still not understand what an elephant is. Like the elephant, creativity is more than just what it looks or feels like on the outside.

We’ve listed some of the characteristics. Now let’s also look at a few of its results, or the products of creativity:

Creativity…

•              produces something new

•              combines two unrelated things or compares two different things

•              transforms one thing into something else

•              challenges the norm

•              offers a different view

•              adds distinction

•              adds variation

•              causes excitement

•              enlightens

•              leads to solutions

Again, lists can only take us so far, but even a rough sketch is more useful than nothing. The more we delve into it, the clearer the picture becomes, like adding layers of paint to a canvas—little details here and there, while still leaving unfinished bits.

There are many lenses through which we can examine creativity and what it accomplishes. However, based on the above lists, I would make the case that the ultimate purpose of creativity is to bring order from chaos and, in doing so, infuse meaning and value into life—or, depending on how you look at it, reveal the meaning and value inherent in life.

Discussions on creativity will always continue because, in many ways, we’re still discovering it. That hardly keeps us from practicing it. And practice it we must if we ever want to improve.

Creative ability is like a muscle. It grows stronger the more you use it. Just as some people are more naturally strong than others physically, so some are more inclined to be creative than others. But every person, with effort, can strengthen their muscles over time.

Looking at it another way, creativity is like a pet you keep around the house. It’s not always predictable, but you can train it to do things you want. If you feed your pet regularly and attend to its needs, you will have a strong, healthy pet. If you fail to train your pet, it will do what it wants and grow difficult to control. Worse, if you neglect the pet, it will languish, growing weaker until it’s just skin and bones. For many, that’s what their creative ability has become: malnourished, mistreated, neglected.

I recall when my dad got his first color printer. I was thrilled by the possibilities and soon I’d printed out pages and pages of clip-art collages, mostly featuring flaming eyeballs. Yeah, I was a weird kid. I have no idea what I intended to do with all those pictures, but—wow—did that color sure look stunning. Turns out Dad was not so thrilled about all the expensive ink I had just wasted. As a reward for my efforts, I was given some new printer restrictions.

You could say I had a lot to learn back then, but at least I was practicing, testing the waters.

While my ability to firmly nail down creativity (or print decent art) may yet be lacking, I’ll address the other burning question: what is a creative? Again, let’s keep it simple:

A creative is someone who is committed to the regular practice of creativity.

Have you heard this saying: a tree is known by its fruit? In the same branch, a creative is known by their creativity. When we begin to recognize what creativity looks like, and what it produces, we can learn to nurture it, to cultivate it, and to fashion an environment where it can grow in a healthy way.

Make no mistake, being a creative isn’t about getting results, it’s about putting forward the effort. And what’s the point of all this effort? The goal isn’t getting to call yourself a creative or even obtaining a firm grasp on creativity. The purpose of the creative and the purpose of creativity are one and the same:

The creative’s goal is to bring order from chaos—to reveal meaning and value in life.

This is nothing less and nothing more than the creative journey itself—the natural path of the creative. In case you’re curious about where we’re headed, we’re going to cover the three aspects of this journey:

The Creative Approach

The Creative Process

The Creative Pursuit

And just how do we feed our creativity to give it that nice, sleek coat once more? How do we exercise our creativity, accept the tension, and let it become a strong, muscle-bound agent of change? How do we pick up the little droppings it leaves all over the yard?

Sorry, went too far on that analogy. Let’s use a plant-based one. How do we nourish our creativity, give it the water and sunlight it requires to produce green leaves and delicious, juicy mouth-watering fruit—the kind you’d want to bake in a pie and bring on over. Guess I got carried away there too.

Ahem, what I’m trying to say is: the first step to creative growth is the creative approach.

I bid you, ladies and gentlefolk, step right up and follow me onward. There are yet many wonders to behold on the next leg of our journey, just beyond this here curtain…