Five Myths about Creativity

If you remember ONE thing about this whole blog I want it to be this… It is all about mindset!.

There are several myths regarding creativity, and I would suspect that one of the main ones is the idea that you are either born with it, or you are not!

Today we are going to explore some of these myths so we can finally leave them aside and move on with our wonderful and creative superpower (that we have to develop on our own).

1. “You either have it or you do not” – This one really triggers me, to be honest

“Oh well, you were lucky and were born creative” this comment dismisses all the hard and constant work we put into our creative thinking. I am not diminishing abilities, I am grateful for the ones I got. What I mean is, the same way languages and sports come easier to some people than others, arts and creative activities come easier to others. BUT, we can all be creative if we practice and allow ourselves to take the leap 🙂

2. “Creativity just strikes in the least expected moment”

Creativity is not a magical power that strikes you when you least expect it! Ideas do (or it looks like they do) but they are actually the result of a process, ideas come from past experiences, other ideas and they show-up from ‘nowhere” because we have been thinking about them and giving our brains the time and space to reflect on ideas about something, and then an unexpected event triggers that idea you were waiting for!

Creativity is about discipline, playfulness, and space! Space to create, to reflect, and to expose yourself to new ideas and knowledge.

3. “Creativity is solely original”

We tend to believe that creativity is having unique, fresh ideas, and that is a lot of pressure to carry on us. In reality, any idea is a mix of past experiences, knowledge, and other ideas.

So that one idea basically originates from everything we have experienced through our life, meaning that throughout our life we learn new things, we are exposed to different ideas and concepts, and we experience things through our senses, which makes us sense and experience things in different ways from others. Isn’t it fun?

That is why we need to take space to expose ourselves to new knowledge, content, and experiences.

4. “Creativity can’t be taught”

Let me tell you something… it is all about our mindset! We have to start by believing that WE ARE ALL creative and like any ability, creativity can be developed. Some of us just need to unlock it and set it free. For more ideas about how to unlock our creative powers, follow @visualversa on instagram or subscribe to our youtube channel. We share hands-on activities to stimulate your mind and trigger your imagination.

5. “Creativity has no restrictions”

On the contrary, challenges & obstacles help develop creative thinking and foster creativity. Constraints are needed sometimes in order to force ourselves to think outside of the box.

Think about it, if we have no pressure to figure out a new way to approach things or solve our problems, we just keep doing things the same way we have always done them… So from now on, maybe look at your challenges as an opportunity to be creative!

Which point was more eye-opening to you?

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