Imagine having a conversation with someone who tells you they can't draw, they're unlikely to sing unless it's in the shower with nobody listening, and the thought of picking up a musical instrument is laughable. They might conclude that they're simply not creative — and you might agree with them.
My job here is to convince you that you're probably both wrong.
What Do We Mean By Creativity?
Interestingly, the idea of creativity has changed over the years. Go back a couple of generations and our friend above would probably have been classed as uncreative. Creativity was much more closely associated with artistic talent and exceptional ability, and if you go back even further, creative talent was sometimes seen almost as a “gift from God”.
The Open University tracks how our understanding of creativity has developed over time. It has moved beyond focusing on artistic ability or natural talent to include things such as mental flexibility, our experiences and motivations, and even the way the people and world around us affect how we think.
Today, creativity can mean producing a new idea, finding a different way to solve a problem or creating something that is useful to you. In other words, you don't need to be able to draw, sing or play an instrument to be creative.
Creativity Is Not The Same As Artistic Talent
It is fair to say that artistic talent is still widely recognised as one of the most obvious ways to be creative. Artists, singers, actors, dancers, novelists and architects, to name just a few, are among the people most readily recognised as creative. Although how much talent an individual person has is often very much up for debate.” But that is not why we are here.
Artistic creativity
My creativity does have a base in the traditional artistic viewpoint. I have been a cardmaker for over thirty years, spent time on and off exploring adult colouring and, within the last decade, got heavily into diamond painting. I have flirted with jewellery making and attempted knitting, but let's not talk about that...
As well as the handcrafts, in my pre-Fibro days I spent time dancing and acting. Not to mention spending half my life singing in a choir. I talk about more of this in the post My Creative Journey as a Spoonie.
An important distinction is that being creative isn't the same as being technically skilled. There are pieces I have coloured and I can go on Instagram and see the same picture coloured by someone with a much higher skill set than me. But did I enjoy my time doing it? Did I lose myself in the experience?
As someone who has perfectionist tendencies in various areas of life, my artistic skill set is where I challenge myself the most. The important thing to remember is: why am I participating in crafts? Is it to explore my creative instincts or to demonstrate my artistic talents? I won't lie, the second option speaks louder to me than I would like. I am a work in progress.
If you live with perfectionism and are considering an artistic hobby to unleash your own creative desires, one simple way to manage it is not to share. Keep it in your own inner sanctum, just like you would a bath or a meditation session.
Everyday Creativity Is All Around Us
Creativity in solving problems
In a simple way, doing something you've always done in a different way is demonstrating your creativity. The person at the office who noticed the fridge was crammed full of everybody's milk and suggested you club together and form a tea club, reducing all those milk containers to one large one, found a creative way to solve a problem.
I recently realised I was using my craft desk for diamond painting and cardmaking and didn't have anywhere to do the adult colouring I am getting back into. Meanwhile, I have a dressing table containing decade-old cosmetics, 90% of which are never worn because I don't go out anywhere 90% of the time. So I came up with a creative solution: turn my dressing table into an adult colouring station.
Creativity at home
The way you decorate your house and the way you dress are both evidence of your creativity. Perhaps, like me, you have issues with various fabrics. When I do go out, I have to be very creative in planning an outfit that is both fit to be seen in public and comfortable enough for me to manage.
At home, there are so many ways you may already be flexing your creative muscles, from wrapping gifts to tending a family of pot plants.
If you are a crafter, like me, you know the creativity involved in organising and storing all the necessary supplies so your stash doesn't take over your home. They do say there are two hobbies: crafting and collecting crafting items.
Other people may have creative ways of organising and displaying collections of shoes, clothes, figurines or other collectables.
The Everyday Creativity Research Network talks about creativity ranging from joke-telling to cooking and gardening.
Creativity in ideas and information
Over the years, my knowledge management systems have become ever more creative. I first became interested in Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), which I talk about on my Digital World blog.
I started by setting up my second brain application, which has undergone various changes over the years, after I noticed my Fibro Fog progressing from the odd lost word to forgetting chunks of knowledge.
I then began work on my craft inventory vault to catalogue my smaller craft supplies. Later, this led to the Home Inventory System. More recently, I have set up my craft inspiration space, a place to record things that inspire me alongside all the creative projects I am working on, have completed or want to try.
Each incarnation of these projects has become more creative, both in the technical processes I use to organise them and in the aesthetics that make me enjoy using them.
You Don't Have To Create Something Impressive
Beyond my message to fellow perfectionists, I really want to stress that whatever you are creating, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Not all creative experiences result in Instagram-worthy projects or something sellable.
You don't even have to finish the project if you have already got enough pleasure from it halfway through. The idea is to enjoy the journey.
Perhaps you might try adult colouring, or maybe you want to make a photo journal. Who knows? In my "tween" years, I had the idea of highlighting my hair with felt-tip pens. Thankfully for my Mum, it washed straight out. I certainly enjoyed doing it at the time!
Why Does Creativity Matter?
Creativity is about being open-minded and willing to explore new possibilities. It allows us to approach problems differently, come up with new ideas and find ways around things that are not working.
Sometimes that creativity is used to tackle some of the biggest problems in the world, from scientific discoveries to finding new ways to protect the environment. At the other end of the scale, it might simply help you organise a cupboard, adapt a recipe or find a better way of doing something at home.
Creativity can also brighten a difficult time in life. It can help us explore new ways of passing the time if old activities are no longer possible, give us new interests to follow and allow us to discover both what we enjoy and what our limitations are.
What Creativity Means To Me
Creativity has unknowingly helped me transition through different stages of life. In childhood, it allowed me, as a non-drawer, to be artistic through dance classes and attempting to learn instruments. It also gave me a sense of belonging through being part of a stage group and choir.
Later, when Fibromyalgia changed so much, creativity helped me maintain a sense of purpose through cardmaking and even selling a few cards. Later still, I found community again through social media groups centred around cardmaking and adult colouring.
Why “Creative Fibro”?
Creative Fibro began, as Living Creatively with Fibro, with the purpose of sharing my creative journey as I learned to live with a chronic illness. That might mean sharing a craft project I have enjoyed making or talking about how I am approaching different parts of life in new ways.
It is very much about creativity in the broadest sense: the small “c” version of creativity that can show up in everyday life, not just the big artistic moments.
What If Fibromyalgia Changes How You Create?
Fibromyalgia can affect energy, concentration, pain, physical ability and how long you can spend doing something. It can change not only what you are able to create, but how you approach creativity in the first place.
That doesn't make this the section where we solve all of those problems. I will look at that properly in a separate post, Being Creative With Fibromyalgia, coming soon.
Finding Your Own Creativity
Be it trying a craft, setting up a cosy corner to help get you through the bad days, or even writing to your Fibro and telling it exactly what you think of it, I hope you can find your own sense of creativity to help you along the journey.
For now, let's all embrace our inner creativity and see where it takes us.