Breathing creativity

What does being creative mean?
For a long time, I thought it meant that you could draw, or play an instrument, or you always had really funny ideas.
It was only in the past couple years that I realized this is not the case. In our society, the standard for creativity that is constantly being perpetuated, is what I had grown up believing- you were only creative if you were good at the arts. This was drilled into me in elementary school, in high school, and even into University.
I always wished I could be good at painting or could write music because I so desperately wanted to be creative, and those activities were pre-requisites. I had some amazingly creative people in my life, and these were all things they had in common so naturally that is what made them creative right?

It was in my Entrepreneurship class that I was first exposed to the idea that creativity is more than art. We had a group project where we had to come up with an idea/product. We had to follow specific steps to do so, which included a team brainstorm. Previous to the brainstorm, the Professor told us that there are no bad ideas. Every single idea should be thrown out there, even if they are "terrible" because they always lead you in the right direction. At that group session, I was so nervous to embarrass myself in front of these people I didn't know, but I decided to take that advice to heart. I threw out ideas from Bubble tree homes, to who knows what else! That is when I learnt that creativity is having the confidence to embrace it.

Since then, creativity is something I have thought a lot about. I have discovered that creativity is embedded in every one of us, it is just up to us to open the flood gates and let it come rushing out. In the beginning, it might be something you have to work on, at least for me I know it is. But all it takes is being conscious of your situation, and making an effort to bring creativity into your life. From a young age, we are taught to hide our creativity- put down the building blocks and pick up a pencil. We are taught to follow rules and think inside the box. Creativity requires letting that all go. Let go of what those around you are thinking, let go of your preconceived ideas of what being creative means, and just be. Be confident in your ability to create. Be ready for a challenge. And most important of all, be encouraging to others in their creativity. If we encourage one another to explore and create, wonderful, beautiful, unimaginable things can happen.

Create something every day. Create hands-on, create memories, create love.

Let creativity come naturally just like it used to