You Can Be Creative

 

creativity
[ kree-ey-tiv-i-tee, kree-uh- ]  noun

the state or quality of being creative.
the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination:the need for creativity in modern industry; creativity in the performing arts.the process by which one utilizes creative ability:Extensive reading stimulated his creativity.Dictionary.com

You can be creative no matter who you are or what your IQ is. Although talent is lovely and helps in life, many things can be cultured and you can learn new behaviors. You can see which personality traits you already have or stand to gain from learning about the creative process - which has it's own phases, practices'; may have a little madness; can be called by other names; having skills you can hone; and with plenty of opportunities for improvement. 
Creative Personality traits
Openness to experience - in other words try new things, be non-judgmental, listen up & be more understanding. 
Curiosity - being endlessly curious gives life meaning - gives your something to live for, and helps you to master your crafts. 
Positivity -  if you always focus on the glass being half full you will feed your mind rather than negativity which just sucks all the energy right out of you. In the situation where you feel like a failure try to think of what you have already progress from and go from there, from strength to strength. 
Energy - You can't work efficiently if you're tired, malnutritional or exhausted. So make sure you stick to the basics of nutrition, a good amount of sleep, exercise and look after your physical and mental health. 
Persistence - Creativity like any endeavor takes a fair amount of grit. You're not going to create a masterpiece in one sitting, try to do a little bit of your chosen craft per day. Focus on the goal and break it down into small steps. 
Intrinsic motivation - Do something for it's own sake - it doesn't always have to be about money and success. 
Autonomy - Creative people believe in themselves and can generate new ideas
Independence - you sometimes spend time alone, it will help you to incubate. 
Non-conformity - Creative people are not afraid to be themselves and can express themselves.
Morning pages - can spur creativity and help with expression, morning pages are from the book 'The Artists Way' by Julia Cameron. Wherein you write three A4 pages of stream of consciousness first thing every morning. 
Mastery - Mastery of something can take up to or beyond 10,000 hours. It's also profitable to practice every day if possible. To be creative you have to commit to a thing. Even a little bit goes a long way if you are regular with your practice. 
Intuition - Go with your gut - follow your heart, trust in fate, express yourself. 
Problem solving - Problem solving can help in any discipline. Whether it be in arts, science or math's. 
And you don't have to work in the arts to be creative, creativity can be used in any discipline. 
“It’s not just your ability to draw a picture or design a product,” writes neuroscientist Roger Beaty. “We all need to think creatively in our daily lives, whether it’s figuring out how to make dinner using leftovers or fashioning a Halloween costume out of clothes in your closet.”
Phases of creativity
Intention - you germinate an idea Investigation - you explore your ideas. Incubation - seeking a solution & processing large amounts of information - this can be consciously or unconsciously.Composition - you create the workVerification- evaluate and SWOT your competitors
SWOT

• build on strengths (S)
• minimize weakness (W)
• seize opportunities (O)
• counteract threats (T). 

Communication - submit the work to the fieldValidation - supported or rejected by the field. 


Notebooks & journals
Scrapbooks, notebooks, and even your facebook account and other apps can be used to capture and save ideas, sketches, photographs bits of inspiration etc. 
Mad Genius Paradox
The mad-genius paradox is whether creativity and madness are somehow linked. 
There are two propositions to the paradox  A) among creative peoples the most creative are more prone to mental illness and B) among all peoples creative people have better mental health. 
But the cross section of the creatives who have mental illness shows that only a tiny amount of creative people have mental illness. So it is fair to say - sometimes creative people develop mental illness and sometimes creative people are mentally well. 
Inversely mental illnesses may respond well to art therapy.
Synonyms for creativity

• Cleverness. whether it's learning a new language, doing puzzles, or partaking in physical exercise there is always a way to increase your smarts. 

• Genius. Deep down everyone has an element of genius in them, try to think about your soul rather than your mind or body. When you dream at night try to recall it and paint it and or put it into words. Always try to be deep. You might like the book 'Care of the Soul' by Thomas Moore. 

• Imagination. Try brainstorming, embark on a course, and do plenty of reading to nurture your imagination. 

• Ingenuity - the quality of being clever, original and inventive. Before you seek assistance with a problem spend some time trying to solve it yourself. Write morning pages. Keep journals  and keep creativity dates at an art gallery or museum. 

• Inspiration, this strikes at 9 am in the morning on weekdays. 

• Inventiveness, is the mother of necessity. 

• Originality. Practice self-acceptance, love yourself and partake in plenty of self-care. 

• Resourcefulness. The internet is an inexhaustible resource so there's no excuse for not being able to find resources to help you with your projects. 

• Talent. You can do an online DNA test to see which genetic traits are your strongest points. There are plenty of personality quizzes to help you with your self knowledge. With that in mind you'll still need to put the hard yards in. 

• Vision. Dream big and work hard and you should succeed.

Antonyms for creativity

• Reality. - Try to escape the concrete jungle and get back to nature a bit to rejuvenate your mind and give you some perspective. 

• Unimaginative, - don't let yourself get bored.

• Uncreative, - never letting yourself go and being supra-rational all of the time. It's nice to have faith and believe in things sometimes so go check your horoscope or affirmation cards or something, it's amazing what the universe can give if you're positive. . 

• Unoriginal, - no faith in yourself or the ability to take risks. 

• Uninspired, - expecting inspiration to come like a lightning bolt, whereas feelings usually follow behavior

• Imitative. - again lack of faith, fear of the self.

• Unproductive, - procrastination. 

• Uninventive, - Keeping busy with no downtime for reflection. 

• Infertile - no trust in your unconscious mind or the universe

Creative Skills

• Curiosity - taking an interest in the world around you. 

• Observation - being mindful; taking notes, photographs, listening skills. 

• Experimentation - Patience, try, try, try again. 

• Imagining - Read a lot and watch movies.

• Problem-solving - Believe that there is a solution to every problem - search for the answers. 

Improving your creativity skills

• Keep learning. Learning is key to living a joyful life. No matter where you are at you can study or practice something. Learning is rewarding and it's always good to develop new skills. The good news is is that you can rewire your brain and create new networks, start small and remember the sky is the limit. 

• Follow your passion - Enthusiasm is key to success, the more you like something the better you will be at it. 

• Take a break. Take downtime to reflect, incubate & rejuvenate. 

• Do physical exercise - It is a well known fact that physical exercise is good for your mind and body. Do plenty, do as much as you can - especially aerobic exercise. But also yoga, tai chi or something like that to stretch and relax. Warm up before you exercise - it prevents sore muscles and prevents injuries. . 

• Try to get into a good mood -  control your emotions and try be positive and stay productive. 

• Practice gratitude -  Every evening write down 5 or 10 things that you are grateful for on that day. This will help you remain positive and change your perspective to optimistic and may even help you sleep.

• Be mindful - Try to be patient and live in the present. 

• Attempt to master your craft -  be patient and practice every day. 

• Have a strong sense of self - watch your self-talk, seek out encouragement and praise and stay positive.  

• Brainstorm - get the creative juices flowing with a brainstorm or mind map. A mind map is a diagram with the central idea in the middle, the relationships expanding on the central idea linked to that and other ideas relating to those. 

• Explore alternate solutions - consider things from different angles, ask an expert, do research. 

• Use the 6 hats technique - The six hats technique is form the book 'The six thinking hats' by Edward de Bono, incorporating the following:  Blue hat - conductors hat: setting the agenda; Green hat - Creative hat: explore ideas; Red hat - heart hat: feelings and intuition; Yellow hat - Optimist's hat: look for the positive in every detail of your project; Black hat - Judges hat: employing critical thinking (but not too much); White hat - Factual hat: assess your knowledge and anything else that is needed. 

• Practice a musical instrument - Not only is music enjoyable, social and good for the soul but it's good for the brain as well! The hippocampus is found to be larger in musicians than other people - so go play guitar, piano or something and expand your mind!  

• Take a course - There's nothing like a course of education to learn something properly, achieve qualifications and begin mastery of something. Do you know that only 30 percent of the world's population have a degree. Also only 8 percent of people reach their goals. Get yourself into a higher percentile by studying, learning, and practicing your chosen craft. 

• Stream some chilled out music - there is something called the Mozart effect which means that music can improve your IQ. It doesn't have to be Mozart either just whatever takes your fancy. So when you feel like it, perhaps stream some chill while you work. 'The Mozart Effect' is from the book of the same name by Don Campbell. 

• Travel - there's nothing like travel to open your mind. Try to take a holiday occasionally to revamp and gain perspective. 

• Play with your kids - It's beneficial to kids to have extra curricular activities like sport and hobbies. Make sure you keep your kid's busy and active and do plenty of arts and crafts projects together. - This will be fun and beneficial to both you and your kids. 

• Learn a new language - like learning a musical instrument learning a new language can improve your brain and, it will also open doors to that culture. 

• Take up crafting. Craft can be quite easy and rewarding. Pick up things at op-shops and refurbish them; do a simple sewing project, learn to knit or crochet, do a bit of carpentry, start a blog or go fishing just to name a few. Your projects can also make excellent gifts, or even lead to a lucrative side hustle. 

• Soak in a hot bath with bath-salts. Soak in the bath and relax. The bathsalts are also good for aches and pains. 

The good news is that creativity can be cultured, anyone in any field can be more creative. It just takes a few skills that you can learn; a focus on problem solving and having a sense of self-mastery or discipline. 

References
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/creativity psychologytoday.com.au/basics/creativity  (Accessed 9th/04/2023)britannica.com/topic/creativity/research-on-the-creative-process (Accessed 9th/04/2023)https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Creative (Accessed 9th/04/2023)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26186754/#:~:text=The%20persistent%20mad%2Dgenius%20controversy,answer%20can%20be%20%22both%22! (Accessed 20th/04/2023)https://www.jotform.com/blog/be-more-creative/#:~:text=To%20grow%20creatively%2C%20we%20have,you%20in%20a%20future%20project. (Accessed 25th/04/2023)