On Being Creative

I'm never considered myself creative.

Actually, for the majority of my adult life I've used the phrase, "I'm not creative at all," whenever someone needed help thinking of a project or title for an article, etc.

Recently, I've been learning new things about creativity though.  Before, I felt like you had to have all these weird images and colors floating around in your head to be considered creative.  You had to be able to create an entire storyline or redecorate a room at the drop of a hat - that was "creative."  I could not do that, therefore, I was certainly not a creative person.

I've spent the past year preparing to start a wedding blog, which launched in January.  My "preparation" activities included browsing through other blogs and actually reading what they say (rather than just skimming and looking at the pictures).  I was able to sift through many different styles of writing and designing, ultimately to find what I believed was most appropriate for the audience I intended to capture.  I can't say my writing style is truly me, what I mean is I don't walk down the street and talk about gitty, girly things all day long.  But when I write for my readers, words come out in a way that I know will be interesting and engaging to them.

Many of my friends and family members have drenched me in compliments for my blog and my writing ability.  When I first heard someone tell me that I'm a creative person, I thought - "what? that's crazy!"  But the more I continued to hear it, the more I started to believe it's true.  And I can confidently say now that I am, in fact, a creative person.  I have even gone as far to say I am an artist.

So what does all this mean?  To me, it means that creativity can be learned.  That is doesn't have to be something you're born with, as I once thought.  My creativity came from seeing what others were doing and talking about, then making it my own.  And it worked!

There are still times when nothing "good" comes to my mind or when I get stuck in the middle of sentence because I can't find the right word.  At those times, I typically just take a break.  Then soon enough an amazing sentence will come to me, I'll stop to write it down, and then everything just seems to flow!

Yes, being creative is easier if it is a natural-born gift.  But not to fret, I'm here to tell you that it is also a skill that can be learned with practice and patience, like anything else.