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Everyone Can Be More Creative
By Marelisa Fabrega
"I am not a businessman, I am an artist." - Warren Buffett
Creative ideas run the gamut from gradual improvements of existing products, services, or concepts, to radical breakthroughs which extend the boundaries of human knowledge and create paradigm shifts. In addition, creativity is not the sole domain of the arts-whether it's painting, theater, music, architecture, dancing, literature, and so on-but is important in any field, from medicine to business, and from engineering to economics.
Being creative can involve cooking a meal from scratch, creating a novel marketing campaign, making up a bedtime story for your child, finding ways to cut costs, or even developing a creative solution to a negotiation impasse. Whatever you do, creativity helps you do it better.
Some people believe creativity to be the result of an abnormal chromosome that causes a muse-like effect, or of a neurological quirk. Others associate it with psychosis, temporal lobe seizures, or childhood trauma. And then there are those who believe it's about winning the genetic lottery: you're either born creative or you're not. However, as most creativity experts hold - including Jack Foster, Roger von Oech, Edward de Bono, and many others - creativity is a process that can be learned, practiced, and perfected.
Dr. Edward de Bono is a leading authority in the field of creative thinking and is the originator of the term "lateral thinking". He explains that creativity is a skill that everyone can learn. He adds that even if some people may be better at being creative than others, like some people are better at playing tennis than others, when specific techniques are applied it becomes possible for anyone to generate new ideas in any field.
While Dr. de Bono emphasizes creativity techniques, Rice Freeman-Zachery, author of "Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists", has this to say about how to be more creative: "Instead of looking at the world as it is, look at everything as being full of possibilities. Instead of seeing what is, look for what could be. If you're an artist, you look at everything as a possibility and inspiration because you know that ideas can come from anywhere."
Psychotherapist and creativity coach Dr. Eric Maisel, Ph.D. has been working with creative and performing artists for over twenty years and has written many books teaching others to be more creative, including "Coaching the Artist Within", "Fearless Creating", "A Writer's Paris", "The Van Gogh Blues", and others. He explains that everyone wishes to create, but some people nurture and honor this desire, while for others the urge to create is dimmed. Dr. Maisel encourages poets, filmmakers, human resource specialists, biochemists, and everyone else to make creativity their religion.
Study the field of creativity in order to learn creative thinking techniques you can begin to apply in your life right away. In addition, look at everything as filled with possibilities and honor your desire to create. Everyone is creative, so embrace your creativity and start making improvements in every area of your life.
This article was written by Marelisa Fabrega who blogs at "Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online". For more fabulous tips and resources on how to increase your creativity, visit her Squidoo lens: How to Be More Creative.
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