Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it – Charles R Swindoll
This is probably true in most cases. The achievements of our life are basically because of the attitude we hold despite the negative factors present in our environment.
Creativity is like charisma. Anyone can have it but not everyone has it!
Creativity is not something you are born with. It is a resource that you can tap into, whenever you want. It is something which is taught to you, or you develop with your own persistence.
All of us are creative in our own way. Some may be a lot more creative than others. However, it is very much possible to enhance your creative potential. For instance, a person who is very passionate about music and has a natural ability to sing can increase his/her singing ability through consistent training and practice.
Creativity is the ability within you to accept something new and change yourself depending upon the situation you are in. It is a determination to find out the possibilities and play with your ideas. It is about enjoying something that is good, while making efforts to improve on it. It is about how flexible you are in your outlook.
Creativity doesn’t need any prior qualification.
The Wright Brothers who invented the airplane were not Aviation Engineers; but simple bicycle mechanics.
The ball point pen was not invented by a mechanical engineer; but by a proofreader called Ladislao Biro.
An Irish Schoolmaster called John P. Holland and an English Clergyman called G.W. Garrett are credited with the design of a submarine.
Eli Whitney, a well-known attorney and tutor invented the cotton gin.
George Manby, a captain of the militia invented the world’s first fire extinguisher.
Chocolate-covered strawberries may appear normal to a few but to a creative person, it may give an inspiration to come up with many other possibilities such as banana sandwiches, peanut butter or even chocolate-covered prunes. It is all about changing the way you look at things.
Now, here is a conversation between a creative person and an ordinary person that might get you thinking which one could be you:
Creative Person: “My orange juice is too sweet. I think I will add some water into it”
Ordinary Person: “What? That’s totally weird!”
Ordinary Person: “What do you think you are doing?”
Creative Person: “Me? I am just painting my mailbox.”
Ordinary Person: “Oh, you are absolutely crazy.”
Creative Person: “I think it is a good idea to add some garlic”
Ordinary Person: “No way! That’s not in the recipe.”
Ordinary Person: “Don’t take this route; it is a very long one”
Creative Person: “It doesn’t matter; I love the drive.”
Ordinary Person: “Haven’t you been told that you are a very strange person?”
Creative people may often come across as strange to other people. You cannot be creative if you don’t go beyond limits. Break away from your fixations. Remove those prejudices from your mind. Get out of assumptions and expectations. Discover things that you can re-apply.
A creative person is one who sees art in an old model of T transmission that you might come across at a junkyard. He might put it up as an artefact in his living room after painting the same. Another may transform the same transmission into a multi-speed hot walker to speed up the gait of his horse. He might just fix up a motor and a few poles and add it to his corral.
Genius often think beyond the regular application of an item to find the perfect solution to a problem. These are a few creative applications that can help you change your frame of reference:
By filing down a paperclip you can turn it into a tiny screwdriver
You can paint your machinery to prevent the screws from loosening
Removing DNA from the bacteria can be done using a dishwashing detergent
If you find too many ants in your house, a general purpose spray cleaner may come handy
However not getting such swayed by such ideas does not make you non-creative. As a child you may have indulged in pretend-play and used your imagination in different ways, before straight-jacketed education suppressed the spark of the original in you. All you have to do is relax and let your creativity get back to its roots.
For starters, logon to www.litmusbranding.com and take some inspiration from the Little Boy.
Then write to you how he made you feel.