What is Creativity Anwyay?
So, I was talking, actually, chatting with somebody online today and they told me, “that’s so creative.” This got me thinking (which, in itself, is a difficult act to perform) about creativity. If you are a painter and you are “creative” does that mean that your paintings are not “pretty” and that the person enjoying them just doesn’t know what else to call them? Is it kind of like calling a woman “exotic?” You say this because you want to be polite and say something nice but she really isn’t all that attractive, perhaps. She’s definately not “pretty” otherwise you would have called her that instead.
It seems to me too that some cultures (and sub-cultures) value creativity more than others. Some feel it is a threat to their existence, to their very way of life, while others foster it. There are stereotypes surrounding all those “creative” people too. How many gay people are said to be “creative?” How about left-handed people? And it’s more associated with some professions than others. Meet any creative garbage collectors recently? How about writers? But, what exactly is creativity? If you could examine it’s core, what would it look like? Is it really different every time you see it?
Perhaps you could define creativity by what it’s not. It’s not doing the same thing in the same way. It’s not same as it ever was, but rather something different. It’s the difference that makes it special, if you want to call it that.
For me, in Carol’s Little World, creativity is fun. It’s fun getting to do something differently than before. It’s fun seeing the same things in a different light. Enjoying something that nobody else sees, or seeing something that nobody else enjoys. I don’t know if I can actually define it but I think I’m destined to enjoy it. It’s what separates us from the farm animals of the world. That and thumbs. Nobody, as far as I know, has ever walked up to an oxen and said, “hey, that’s so creative. And, by the way, nice thumbs.”
Until next time, this is Carol, the Carol in “Carol’s Little World” signing off.
