How To Be Creative - Essay Example

? 8 March How to be creative? Introduction: Creativity is actually not as big a dealas it seems to be. In fact, it is a natural phenomenon that occurs in all human beings, though the extent and frequency with which it occurs varies from individual to individual. People who think that they are not creative unnecessarily make an attempt to convince themselves that they are deprived of it. By doing so, they betray themselves. Creativity is ingrained in human mentality. This particular trait of humanity fundamentally distinguishes between a man and other animals and makes the man superior to all living beings. All animals do possess brains, and have been provided with varying levels of creativity by nature. A sparrow’s nest differs in style and capacity from that of an eagle. A honey bee stores honey in tiny pores. Likewise, rabbits dig holes in the earth to make their tunnels. All of these are signs of creativity in non-human living beings. The fact that humans are the most creative among all living beings can be estimated from the fact that all development in the world is the result of the discoveries of humans. Humans discovered ways to fly not only in the air, but also to float in the space. Humans constructed skyscrapers, invented trains and ships, and developed satellites that record information 24/7. From the first day man was sent on the Earth till today, man has been creating things that would facilitate him and improve his standard of living. The world in which we live today is much different form the way it was few centuries back. Rapid industrialization and advancement in the field of science and technology has brought an altogether change in the life on Earth. All of this is not the result of the efforts of a single person, community or a group of people. Instead, all human beings have been playing their respective roles in developing the modern world from time to time. The modern world is the outcome of creativity of all human beings. Therefore, there is no doubt in the fact that creativity is a naturally occurring phenomenon and occurs in all living beings, but varies in extent depending upon the level of sharpness and intelligence. This paper discusses some of the ways in which creativity can be improved. Creativity as a necessity of modern age: Competition in the contemporary age has grown manifolds in all fields as compared to the past. With the increase in general awareness, people have become highly educated in order to make full use of the emerging opportunities. This has increased the competition in the market scenario. Business entrepreneurs are looking for ways to be more and more creative and innovative in their approach so as to gain competitive advantage over their parallels in the market. It would not be wrong to say that creativity is the need of the hour in the current business practices. This has generally raised the interest of people in creativity and ways and means are being suggested on organizational level in order to improve individuals’ creativity. The concept of creativity: In order to find out ways to increase creativity, it is customary to discuss the basics of the concept of creativity. Creativity is neither something that can be created nor can it be called as an event that would happen occasionally. Instead it is within ourselves and needs to be explored. It cultivates in human mind and nurtures as we go through various experiences in our life. It slowly shows up in our thinking as we mature. “There is virtually no problem you cannot solve, no goal you cannot achieve, no obstacle you cannot overcome if you know how to apply the creative powers of your mind, like a laser beam, to cut through every difficulty in your life and your work” (Tracy cited in Kotelnikov). Creativity is more often than not, an involuntary action. An individual can not intentionally raise his/her level of creativity at a particular point in time when he/she might need it the most. Creativity can not be invited. Instead, it is a matter of chance. It may happen anywhere any time. However, there are certain exercises and practices that an individual can do in order to improve his/her creativity in general as will be discussed in this paper later. How is creativity created? Although creativity is fundamentally the name of innovation, yet it is an outcome of the blend of previous experiences and thoughts that recapitulate into a concept that shows up as creativity. We happen to go through various sorts of experiences in our everyday life, some of which are good and others are not. However, one thing that is good about even the worst experiences of our life is that we learn something from them. Learning is a continuous process and happens all the time. When learning occurs, it broadens the vocabulary and choices that our creativity can derive a concept from. A famous grown up artist may not be able to draw a picture with perfection in childhood, yet the same person develops perfection in his art with the passage of time. This can fundamentally be attributed to the fact that the artist has learned from the experiences he has been through. Therefore, in order for an individual to improve creativity, it is advisable to watch more and more movies, documentaries and clips related to the subject that he/she wants to be creative in. However, TV should be watched as less often as possible. The best approach is to get rid of TV unless one has a purpose in mind like watching a particular program on it. TV normally numbs the watcher and saps his ability to think, and more importantly, create! Ways to increase creativity: Taking 30- minute morning walk: It may sound strange but a 30-minute walk is extremely helpful for boosting creativity. While an individual is out for a walk, he/she has an opportunity to view and analyze the world around him/her. The best thing about a morning walk is that having taken a good night sleep, a person goes out with a fresh and receptive mind. Although the sole purpose of a morning walk is never inculcating creativity, yet it is one of the positive outcomes that the practice offers. While on the walk, one should take momentary breaks and smell the fragrance in the air, notice nature, and allow the world to unfold around one. Managing time: Time management is not a fundamental ingredient, but is one of the supporting ingredients in the development of creativity. 24 hrs in a day is indeed, a lot of time that conventionally goes wasted in unproductive activities. People waste time by sleeping it away. Too much sleep leaves little time for daily life activities as a result of which, an individual keeps running from task to task, and runs short of time. The shortage of time creates fuss and nothing gets done with perfection. In order to manage time adequately, one should estimate the activities that need to be done tomorrow, make a list of them and allocate time to each of them. This allows sufficient time for all activities and hence, everything is done with perfection. In addition to this, an individual gets enough time to relax between the activities. Timely completion of tasks adds to the improvement of mood which becomes conducive for the cultivation of sense of creativity. Getting relaxed: One should get involved in activities that would make one feel happy and contented. Such activities include but are not limited to going for an outing, going for a walk, swimming, reading, listening music, and dancing. It may sound strange but it is a wonderful idea to put one’s thoughts and feelings in black and white. Writing one’s thoughts on a piece of paper is a good means of relieving tension. It is also advisable to maintain a whole diary for the very purpose. To boost creativity, an individual should always possess at least one paper and a pen, so that whenever something clicks in the mind, it can be penned down. It is not necessary to have complete and composed ideas to note, even a shear concept can work wonders. Therefore, every sign and symbol that comes to one’s mind should be recorded for later use. Listening music: Creativity has got a lot to do with moods that are controlled by human psychology. Realization of this interrelationship between psychology, mood and creativity is important for controlling the volume of the third. Psychology is influenced by sounds, and hence music. When one happens to be in a crowded area where people are violently aggressive and are shouting at one another, it naturally increases the release of Adrenalin gland in one’s body, and one starts to get hyper, though it may not be required of one. On the other hand, Drawing: Drawing is a very useful means of improving an individual’s creative skills. Drawing is one good exercise to improve the creativity as it allows an individual to put his/her thoughts onto paper. Being curious: Curiosity leads to creativity. It is the most fundamental trait of the attitude required to exhibit creativity. Curiosity causes a person to think of different patterns that materialize new ideas, techniques and concepts. One should be inquisitive in nature in order to have potential to exhibit creativity. It is useful to look out for alternative ways of developing a model. Ideas should be welcomed, and criticism should be taken as constructive. “Learning to ask ‘why’, ‘what if’ and ‘I wonder…’ are great questions to build into your life if you want to be a more creative person” (Rowse). Giving gratitude: In order to inculcate optimism in one’s thoughts, one should always think about positive things. One should maintain positive thinking. The best way to develop optimism is to realize the blessings of God and be thankful to Him. Waking up the imagination: Imagination is a very strong source of development of creativity in a person. In fact, creativity fundamentally gains birth from imagination. There are exercises that can help enhance an individual’s imagination. Yoga is one such exercise. In yoga, a person closes his/her eyes, sits in a relaxed position and imagines himself in any place that he/she deems soothing and comforting. While doing do, the person can observe minor details of the scene he/she supposes him/herself to be in. When imagination gets developed to this level, an individual can then differentiate between colors and textures of things that make part of the supposed scenario. An individual should then ponder over such questions as, How does the texture feels to the touch? How does it sound upon hitting? What on Earth does it resemble? Such thoughts not only provide the individual doing yoga with a relief from the pre-occupied thoughts of tension and stress, but also improves his/her ability to imagine things and create them. Getting inspired: Getting inspired is conventionally visualized as an attempt to undermine one’s own ideology in favor of another. However, this is very irrational portrayal of the philosophy of inspiration. When a person gets inspired from someone else, he/she does not necessarily underestimate his/her own self. Instead, it is some or all of the traits in the other person that seem pleasing and impressive enough to be given a moment of thought. While a person gets inspired, it so happens because the other person possesses some thing that lacks in the former but he/she wants to gain it. This desire of achievement motivates an individual to take steps to improve the likelihood of attainability of that thing. As a result of this, the individual gains motivation which generates the positive energy that is a fundamental requirement of creativity. Therefore, fir the individuals who want to improve their creativity, it is quite advisable to appreciate other people’s qualities and get inspired by them with the intention of achieving what they have with personal effort and hard work. Being there! The first and foremost requirement of creativity is to be there when it comes. A vast majority of musicians and artists, when asked about the source of their creativity, tell that they do not derive it intentionally from anywhere. Instead, it just shows up from nowhere, and takes hold of their mind and soul. “Creative thinking is a form of active, energetic patience. Wait for order to emerge out of chaos. It needs a midwife when its time has come” (Adair 96). That is indeed, true and the fact has generally been acknowledged by many people known for their creativity. It is not like there is a place that needs to be reached in order to gain creativity. Instead, it is all about maintaining the frequency of thoughts that are conducive for better imagination and creativity. One way to achieve this is by relieving tension through such exercises as yoga as has been discussed before. Another way to maintain the right frame of mind is by doing everything wholeheartedly and with complete dedication. Even when a person eats, he/she should pay full attention to the food. This not only helps the individual consume lesser food than he/she would while doing something else along with eating, but also provides him/her with an opportunity to study the colors, texture, aroma and taste of the food, and appreciate the way colors blend into one another and the way, different spices combine to develop a unique and distinct flavor. Concentrating upon the present: Present mindedness is the key to creativity. With present mindedness, an individual is able to pay full attention to the present, and make full use of his/her potential to be creative. What is important in order to be creative is to be in the perfect state of mind that can not be achieved unless an individual is free of tensions of the past and the future. Conclusion: Creativity can be thought of as a slow process that can not be sped up. Creativity best shows up when a person is in the right state of mind. The right state of mind is essentially one when an individual is stress free and is optimistic. One can gain shear control over one’s creativity provided that one is able to play with one’s state of mind. The perfect state of mind necessarily requires the mind to be receptive and open, though it is accompanied with soothing laziness. “Kind of a “Hmm, well, what if I tried this…”” (Kane). It is undoubtedly true that happiness, comfort and peace are some of the most fundamental pre-requisites of creativity. There are numerous ways to boost creativity which include but are not limited to outing, taking morning walk, listening music, avoiding TV, reading magazines, managing time, feeling relaxed, doing exercises, drawing, acting and thinking more. Creativity is an outcome of human consciousness that is influenced by various activities that we involve in and experiences that we go through in our daily life. Works Cited: Adair, John. The Art of Creative Thinking: How to Be Innovative and Develop Great Ideas. UK: Kogan Page, 2007. Print. Kane, Christine. “21 Ways to Be More Creative.” 24 July 2006. Web. 7 Mar. 2011. . Kotelnikov, Vadim. “Creativity.” n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2011. . Rowse, Darren. “9 Attitudes of Highly Creative People.” 2007. Web. 7 Mar. 2011. . Read More