Creativity Isn’t Limited to Artists

You don’t have to be an artist or artistic to be creative; being creative is part of being human. I’ve heard many people say “I’m not creative.” Nonsense, each of us is creative. We all have the ability to create, but it might look different from person to person. I like to paint while you may like to do puzzles. Puzzles involve creative problem-solving abilities.

Think about what you like to do first and then you can apply creativity to that. For example, maybe you like to collect bird feathers. That might not feel creative on the surface, but what if you used those feathers and made them into microscope slides? That could be cool. Another idea is to glue the feathers into a notebook and draw around them. It’s up to you.

What outfit do you want to wear today? Be creative with your sense of color. Pick a scarf that works as an awesome accessory.

“Think of yourself as a piece of art,” says my friend Michelle Hammer of Schizophrenic NYC.

Dye your hair a different color or put on different makeup or learn to do a cat eye with eyeliner. Another cool thing about makeup is that there are different color combinations that you can use to enhance your eyes or your cheekbones. There are so many ways to be creative with makeup, it’s ridiculous.

Use creativity when there’s a problem

In life, a problem arises, but you can’t seem to think of a solution to it. Use your creativity to figure out a way to solve the problem that you wouldn’t normally think of. This is a form of creativity too. I try to repeat in my head “there is always a solution even if I haven’t found it yet.” That mantra makes me feel better.

You’re having trouble putting together a piece of furniture. Then you think of a new and different way to put the parts together! See? You’re awesome.

Even when you are feeling depressed you can still be creative. It’s creative to brainstorm ways to get yourself out of bed in the morning. It’s creative to find methods to deal with intrusive thoughts. These are creative things! See, you were using your creativity and you didn’t even know it.