Our Creative Sides

One of the things that gives me the most difficulty as a teacher is convincing students--be they high school or college students--that they have a lot of creativity that's very valuable if they only choose to use it.  Students tend to be reticent to expose their creative sides, usually because they've been shot down in the past when they've tried to show their creativity.  But as a teacher and a human being, I know that everyone is creative in their own ways, and if we don't allow that creativity to shine through, then we're allowing one of the most important part of our selves to be wasted, squandered.

What are your strongest areas of creativity?  Are you really good at making financial decisions?  Are you good at drawing or painting?  Do you write well, or design buildings or bridges?  Perhaps your creativity is in helping other people uncover their creativity, and that can be a magnificent gift to share with others.

I have a lot of creativity inside of me.  In fact, the only barrier to my creativity is time.  I'm creative in writing, drawing, music, teaching, and many more things.  Long ago I decided that I wanted to honor my creativity more than the side of me that simply does what it's told, and since then I've been quite happy with life and the way I live it.  All of our days can be filled with personal expression, and when they are they give us much more satisfaction than those days during which we've created no expression at all, only whatever we're "supposed" to create.

You are a creative person.  The God that created you filled you with the same creativity that he or she (or however you prefer to refer to God) used to create you with.  Please don't squander that gift--many people can benefit from your creativity, but only if you let it shine!  Use your gifts in joy and gratitude, and you, too, will go about making this world a richer place through your contribution to all of the people with whom you share this world of ours.

Creativity is a central source of meaning in our lives. . . most of the
things that are interesting, important, and human are the results
of creativity . . . when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living
more fully than during the rest of life.

 

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi