The Truth about Creativity

There are two main truths.

The first truth is that creativity always introduces something new and therefore is important to our everyday lives as well as society.

The second truth is that creativity always introduces something new and therefore is often feared and rejected.

In addition to the fine and performing arts, we benefit from creativity in every aspect of our lives. For example, over the years the horse and buggy was replaced by well-designed cars, trains and planes to travel across land and space shuttles to explore the world above. Technology has allowed us to expedite and enrich our communication and knowledge; there was no historical substitute because electricity was first evolving in the nineteenth century. Thomas Edison who was refining the incandescent electric light bulb at that time, also invented the first phonograph and held a record number of 1,093 patents. Edison said “I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it”. Steve Jobs who lead his company, Apple, to go beyond computers to create the iPod, iPhone and iPad also looked at the world’s potential needs and took hold of new markets in the process.

There are millions of opportunities we have today because creative individuals used their vision, sweat and time to persevere failures to gain success.

So why fear? What is the psychological factor that makes people shun a new concept or just a new approach to an old method? I believe they have the innate need for homeostasis. No change is the right change. The creative unknown cannot be allowed to displace the comfort of the familiar. It would be too risky, require understanding and acclimation and what if they failed to adjust to it? So many negative concerns swirl through their psyches that they need to prevent it from entering their lives. And so they lose. And sometimes we all lose because they may have the power and/or majority to thwart the flow of creativity.

Think about this; make time to reflect, analyze and respond to situations that are present in your life. A creative life can start with a new route to a regular destination, it can be making splatter pancakes instead of traditional round ones; find things to change and explore in a new way. Keep your mind flexible and open and allow for the unexpected.

The creative world is yours for the taking.


“Five percent of the people think;
ten percent of the people think they think;
and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.”
― Thomas A. Edison