In childhood we would grab a fat, brightly coloured crayon and scrawl across the paper creating shapes and swirls. When finished we would show our masterpiece to the nearest adult, and they would exclaim our brilliance. Back we went to the paper with a happy heart to scrawl again – bigger and better.
But over the years people would start highlighting when we coloured outside the lines or how many legs were realistic for a horse. Bit by Bit, our confidence would become worn down, just like the crayons we once used. And then our creative pursuits, just for the joy of it, would be packed away with other childish things.
Instead, we are taught to enhance our creative skills, not for the pleasure, but the achievement. And as an adult if we could do something well creatively then surely it should be revenue generating.
But we are not machines, always productive, always outputting. Sometimes doing can just be for the simple joy, not to be the best singer, writer or painter. Creativity enables us to plug into a different side of our brain. We can temporarily remove ourselves from the business culture and instead focus solely on ourselves. Using our hands, voices or eyes in different ways and for different purposes.
Potentially nobody will ever see our ‘output’ or there might not even be one. Sometimes the feel of soil when potting a plant or hearing our voice in harmony with others or even just reverberating in the shower is enough. Creativity needs no justification, we are using our full selves, just as we were born to do.
