What does it mean to be creative?

What does it mean to be creative?

Almost every time that someone learns I am an artist, they immediately ask a ton of questions. Some expected (what kind of art?) some kind of intrusive (how much do you make?) but every single person says something to the effect of "I wish I was creative." (They also almost always say something to the effect of "it must be so nice just to sit around and paint all day." which I'll discuss another day, but just for the record- full time artists rarely get to spend every day painting.)

And my response? "You are. You might not be artistic, but I'd bet you're creative."

Sure you may lack any artistic ability, but that doesn't make you without creativity. So why are so many people quick to say "they aren't creative?"

My opinion?

Because we put creativity in a box and only associate it with those who are artistic (though they are VERY different things.)

This makes it so we can easily recognize the creativity of artists, but find it much more difficult to recognize the creativity of a statistician, an attorney, or even a stay at home parent. But have you seen what statisticians do with stats and graphs? Creative. How about how an attorney argues a case? Creative. And it only takes a second to recognize just how creative parents have gotten with virtual learning this year.

So don't be so quick to discount your creativity. I promise you have it- even if you "can't draw a stick figure to save your life."