Every Creation is Valid

"I'm not creative, as some other people" or "I don't have time to sit down and create something every day" or "I'm not an artist so I don't use creativity at work" are often used sentences by most of us when we come across the word creativity. But it’s important to realize the difference between using creativity and actually creating something. In a lot of ways, creativity is all about how you see things. 

Take a moment and have a look at what you do on a day to day basis. You will be surprised at how often you're using creativity. Whether you're working in an office or in retail or managing household chores you're probably using creativity to make decisions and solve problems on a daily basis. 

Creativity is not about having a career as a painter, dancer, musician, chef etc. It's about the innate abilities, desire to create that we all have. You can use creativity to paint, write, sing, dance, but you can also use it in practical ways like coming up with an alternate solution at work or organizing things at home. 

As children, we are highly creative and imaginative in our thoughts and actions. Speaking our thoughts out loud and letting our imagination form our actions. But as we grow older we're taught to control our thoughts. They occur to us but we either ignore them or keep them to ourselves. We are so trained that others opinion about music, painting etc is what makes our creations valid or not. When the truth is every creation is valid. 

A lot of people say "I can't sing" or "I can't paint" which is wrong. If you have a voice you can sing may be you don't have a voice that is capable of capturing other's attention, but you can sing. Again, maybe you can't paint pictures that others will see as masterpieces but you can paint. It is important for our well being to utilize our creativity. Perhaps you have always wanted to write a poem, or love to cook, sing, dance, draw, paint, take photos and for some reason, have not put aside the time in your daily life to make that a priority. Then this is the time to do it. If you love to sing set aside an hour a day to sing songs that you love, to record yourself, to play an instrument, to write your own songs.  If you love to cook set aside a day on the weekend and cook lots of dishes. Whatever it is you like to do, want to do, do it. Don't get caught up in right and wrong, good and bad just do. 

Remember the more creative things you do the more your imagination is sparked. It is about engaging with your own creativity. If you feel someone will judge your work do not show it to them. Show it to the people you know will see the truth in it and be supportive. Protect and honour yourself. This is your inner most being expressing itself in whatever way you choose. So this New Year make creative work a focus in your life and enjoy doing whatever creative works you get up to. 

Roshal J Crasta holds an M.Sc. in Chemistry. She is currently pursuing B. Ed in St Aloysius Institute of Education, Mangaluru.