Creativity is a mental and social process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts. Creativity is fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight…blah blah blah

That definition was too long and made no sense to me.  What is creativity? Can you define it? I’m not sure if that is possible, but I do know we need to learn  how to foster it and allow it to happen. There are no rules to this, no laws, no formalities. It will happen only when you free yourself of all inhibitions. Allow yourself to believe anything is possible and suddenly everything is.

When I was in grade two, my teacher Mrs. Robinette, asked everyone to draw for her what they wanted for Christmas that year. She came around to each student and handed us all a blank piece of white paper and a pencil. I was so excited. Most of my class mates went right at it drawing trucks and trains, dolls and Lego’s. I didn’t want any of these things. A truck? What was I going to do with a truck? So I grabbed my pencil and I went to town on that 8.5X11 sheet.

Fifteen minutes went by before Mrs. Robinette came over to my desk. She asked me to show her my drawing. Again, I was so excited (I got excited a lot as a child). I handed her my paper and she was surprised to see a Unicorn drawn on it. Not just any Unicorn, a Unicorn with a saddle, purple wings, green eyes and a blue tail (I had my own crayons with me. I always came prepared to art class). In the drawing I was standing beside the Unicorn with a big smile on my face. Why a Unicorn you ask? Unicorns are awesome. Mine had wings. It could fly! That’s a lot better than a stupid truck. Trucks can’t fly.

Mrs. Robinette looked at me and very calmly said “Unicorns are not real Christopher, don’t get your hopes up.”

I was 8 years old. I actually thought it was possible for me to get my very on Unicorn for Christmas. How was I to know this wasn’t an option.

Someone might tell you  something doesn’t exist, or can’t happen, or is virtually impossible. But someone who relinquishes all of these reservations enters the world of creativity. A world where anything is possible if you allow it to be.

I got my Unicorn that year, It was two times as big as me and I could actually get on it and pretend to ride it. It didn’t have purple wings, green eyes or a blue tail. It couldn’t fly. But it was a Unicorn none the less. Aim for the moon, end up in the stars.

A blank 8.5X11 piece of paper is my definition of creativity.

About the Author: chris
These are the musings about a business brainchild contained within a creative confectionery of a mind. His blog entries often look at how making friends and building your brand online is a lot like making it on the playground.

Comments