I am ... creative?

Can you honestly say something like that about yourself? It's not like I am always creative. There are days when I don't want to do anything creative. There are days I don't want to do anything. Period. What does it actually mean, to be creative?

The dictionary describes the word as follows:

Involving the imagination? Well, in that case I probably am creative 100% of the time. After all, I have a wild imagination. Who doesn't pretend and drift off to a tropical destination when doing a repetitive chore like the dishes or ironing?

Being creative also claims to relate to original ideas. But when is an idea original? Haven't all stories been told already at least once before? Isn't it more about HOW you tell the story that makes it original rather than WHAT story you tell? How else do you explain one book becoming a bestseller and the other flopping?

It's been done before

Just the other day I was watching a movie called "Safe Haven". It's only a few years old and it's based on the book by Nicholas Sparks. The basic plot was about a young woman escaping her abusive partner and learning to trust men again. When she finally dared to love again, the abusive partner unexpectedly showed up, demanding her to come back. She refuses, things become violent and the new lover saves the day by defeating the partner, who often ends up dead in the end.

How many times have you heard this plot line? I can probably name a dozen movies or books discussing this very same topic. Hell, I wrote a short story about this myself. So how is this creative? It is the way of HOW you present the topic, that guarantees your success.

Creative professions

When you think about creative jobs, you often think author, photographer, product designer or anything else in the art & design field. So other jobs aren't creative? Can a housewife be creative? Or a brick layer? What if the housewife invents a new cleaning product? And the brick layer some kind of machine that makes his work easier?

Personally, I think everyone is creative. Not all the time, most people have bouts of creativity, where they suddenly have an idea that might not even be that original, but is adapted to their current situation or way of life.

Is creativity something you can learn? No, you already possess it. You are naturally a creative person! It is just a matter of tapping into it, of learning to tap into it. You might say "I'm not creative, I can't do anything!" It's not true, and you know it. Apparently you can do anything you want to do, as long as you truly want it.

So, are you creative? When you want to be, you are!