Giving what’s within a way out

Creative Expression

You don't have to be an artist to create.

Creative expression is simply the act of giving something within you a way to take form. It might become a painting, a photograph, a garden, a song, a meal, a poem, a room you've rearranged, a piece of clothing you've altered, or a few lines scribbled in a notebook.

Sometimes we create because we have something specific to say. Other times, we don't know what we're trying to say until we begin.

That may be part of the value of creating.

Creativity is more than making art

We tend to associate creativity with people who paint, write, make music, or have some recognizable artistic skill. But creativity is much broader than that.

It's present whenever we imagine, experiment, combine things in a new way, solve a problem, follow curiosity, or make something that didn't exist quite like that before.

You may be creative in the way you cook, decorate your home, arrange flowers, tend a garden, tell stories, wrap a gift, take photographs, choose what to wear, or make a space feel welcoming.

Creativity isn't something reserved for a particular kind of person.

It's something human beings do.

Create before you explain

There can be a temptation to understand something before allowing ourselves to express it.

But creativity doesn't always happen in that order.

Sometimes a color catches your attention. A phrase appears in your mind. You feel compelled to photograph a particular tree, hum a melody, move furniture around, write something down, or make something without knowing why.

Instead of immediately asking What does this mean?, try following the impulse for a while and see where it leads. Meaning may emerge as you create, or much later when you look back.

And sometimes there may be no deeper meaning at all. You simply enjoyed making something—and that's enough, too.

Let it be imperfect.

One of the quickest ways to quiet creativity is to decide that whatever we make needs to be good.

It doesn't.

Not everything needs to become a finished piece, a product, a post, or something other people will ever see. There is value in making things badly, experimentally, privately, and purely because you wanted to.

Doodle in the margin. Take the photograph. Sing even if your voice cracks. Write the paragraph that goes nowhere. Plant flowers because you like the colors together.

Creativity becomes much more interesting when we're willing to be curious instead of impressive.

Creativity as a way of listening

Creative expression can also give intuition, emotion, memory, and imagination somewhere to go.

Try beginning without deciding what the finished result should be. Choose a material, a word, a color, a sound, an image, or an idea that catches your attention and follow it.

Notice what you reach for. Notice what changes as you work. Notice what surprises you.

You don't have to interpret everything that appears. Just as with intuition, it can be helpful to notice first and interpret second.

Sometimes what you create will reveal something. Sometimes it will simply make you feel more like yourself.

Both are worthwhile.

Make something.

If it's been a while since you've created simply for the sake of creating, start small.

Ask yourself:

What do I feel like making?

Not what would be useful. Not what you're already good at. Not what someone else might like.

What sounds interesting?

Follow that.

You don't have to know where it's going.

Creating is one way of finding out.

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