Let's Create!

Across the variety of environments in which I work – education, health care, public service, tech, manufacturing – I’m always struck when someone says, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” I patently refute that statement and any of its myriad variants. Creativity is at the heart of greatness – in work, in relationships, in life itself. By negating our creativity, we stifle our potential and that of our colleagues, employees, students and friends, too.

As humans, we actually have a universal need to create; it’s hardwired into us if, for nothing else, the survival of the species. Beyond that is the need to create for creation’s sake – beauty, meaning, stress relief. Seriously, not acknowledging and honoring this inherent human need can be a significant source of the very stress creativity alleviates. There is a great body of evidence that supports this definition of creativity. There is also an entire culture that devalues and suppresses it. Sadly, we humans are often too easily suppressed, believing what we’ve either been told or choose to believe. What if we actually chose to believe what Howard Thurman – author, theologian, educator, philosopher, civil rights leader – recommends? What if we chose to be creatively alive in every aspect of our lives? What kind of people would we be? What kind of employees, employers, teachers, students, parents, friends? What would our reality look like? For starters, waking up in the morning would be a lot more appealing.

So, the question really becomes how? How do we re-awaken that which we’ve suppressed? I suggest a relatively simple three-step plan: frame, build sustain. Here’s how it works:

Frame your IMAGINATION:  Seek, name and claim your passions, values, talents, capacities. This step ends by articulating what you love and acknowledging your desire to connect this love to personal/professional opportunities – fix your mind on a different reality.

Build your INTENTION:  This is the hard part. The “action” part of Prochaska’s Stages of   Change. You actually have to do the work. Our self-negation has most likely become a long-established habit, so this step includes creating new reasons, new rhythms and new routines in both thinking and doing. Write it down, keep a journal, make a list, get a coach, engage a colleague for support and encouragement. Literally craft your new reality board by board, nail by nail - one fixture at a time.

Sustain your WONDER: Sigh, laugh, stay curious, be present. Has meaningless activity been   replaced by connection? Are you more attuned to the people and tasks around you? Are you able to act with integrity, secure in the knowledge that you’re living your truth? Allow yourself to celebrate each small step and remain open to the outcome of your efforts. The final version of your new reality may not look exactly as you imagined it, but how does it feel? Are you more alive? Chances are you’re not the only one who’s noticed!

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