The topic of creativity stirs up a lot of emotion. A few people get excited to talk about it, but most shut down immediately. That’s exactly why the conversation about genius is so crucial. That’s exactly why I had to write Everyone’s a Genius to break down our conceptions and misconceptions. Our beliefs about ourselves and creativity melt into finely crafted excuses that sit ready to be used at a moment’s notice. When I converse with anyone on this topic I get a few common reactions.
“I’m not creative at all”. One friend has said this to me multiple times, but as I look at her life I think differently. She has always been able to recreate herself. Without much education she navigated the mortgage business, started several small side businesses and learned to sustain life at a young age. She defines creativity narrowly. Folks were looking up to her, and she was looking down on herself.
“No one understands my creativity.” A friend of mine grieves how her creativity was stifled as a child. Those around her pushed her aside as if her creativity was a cute side detail she would someday graduate from and move into the real world. She always felt undervalued and to this day struggles to know how to express her creativity and enjoy the mind God has given her. She feels like she needs to turn off the switch to simply be who others want her to be.
“I wish I was creative”. A friend of mine looked up to visual artists. He typecasted himself out of the role of a creative, because he had never created visible works of art. He is very literal, very serious, very calculated, and he thought that amounted to a lack of creativity. God rescued him from a life of addiction, and he has had to be incredibly creative to figure out how to live a new narrative and follow God into marriage and fatherhood.
“I used to be creative”. We were all artists as kids before opinions and insecurities got in the way. Most people remember a time when they used to work on art. Today they’ve gotten busy and “graduated” into the perils of real life; bills, busy schedules, kids and boredom never to dabble again.
What’s the alternative to these excuses?
“I will push through fear and doubt to create and cultivate”. Yes, creating anything is a risk. It invites critique from those sitting on the sidelines. True creatives practice in public, inviting the best and the worst people might think. Creating and cultivating is in our blood.
When God created the human race, he made it godlike,
with a nature akin to God.
Genesis 5:1, The Message
Because we are fashioned in the image of THE Creator we simply must create. As we shape art the Creator shapes us.
* This is an excerpt from my forthcoming book Everyone’s a Genius; Unleashing Creativity for the sake of the World launching September 19th