WHAT IS CREATIVITY? HOW DOES IT IMPACT OUR WORK
KIRA LISA SHELTON
WHAT IS CREATIVITY? HOW DOES IT IMPACT OUR WORK
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Creativity: (noun) The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness
This definition, in my opinion, is both right and wrong, creativity is such a broad term that it simply cannot be defined by one statement, in this sense, it is wrong, however, the word creativity has its own unique definition to nearly every individual, somewhere in the world there will be an individual that can say that they relate to this definition, that they agree that is what creativity means, in this sense, it is right. This definition, in my opinion, is both right and wrong, creativity is such a broad term that it simply cannot be defined by one statement, in this sense, it is wrong, however, the word creativity has its own unique definition to nearly every individual,
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It is my belief that creativity is impossible to define in one particular word or statement, as author Wouter Boon states in his book ‘Defining Creativity: The Art and Science of Good Ideas’, creativity is illusive, because we still don’t know exactly what happens in our brains when we are being creative. It is my belief that creativity is impossible to define in one particular word or statement, as author Wouter Boon states in his book ‘Defining Creativity: The Art and Science of Good Ideas’, creativity is illusive, because we still don’t know exactly what happens in our brains when we are being creative.
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Creativity & Education
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My earliest memories of beit is understood that a pering creative, finger painting son cannot be both, I beand making plaster casts of lieve that this understanding my tiny handprints, should comes from education. Auleave me to believe that crethor, speaker and internaativity is exactly what the Oxtional advisor on education ford Dictionary defines it as, Sir Ken Robinson gave a talk however, my further experiat the 2006 TED conference ences growing up as a crea- entitled ‘Do Schools Kill Creative and being educated in tivity?’, challenging the edua creative field has lead me cation system and speaking to disagree. In society, there of how our education system seems to be stereotypical puts more value on the acviews and misconceptions ademic subjects over the on creativity and creatives creative and I find this to be as individuals, so, what is the true, children in schools are most common perception taught that an education in of creativity? In both my recertain academic subjects search and discussions with such as English and maths my peers and members of will make for a better career the public I have found that in the future and therefore a a high percentage of peobetter life and that the creple assume that if a person ative subjects such as art, is deemed as creative, they music and drama are somecannot be academic, this thing more of a hobby. suggests that there is a divide in society, there are those who are academic and those who are creative 6
Who can be creative?
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I am a believer in the saying According to the book ‘The ‘you cant create something Art of Looking Sideways’ by from nothing.’ Although I British graphic designer Alan agree with the fact that the Fletcher, there are specific majority of creatives have attributes that a person must these attributes, I think that have in order to be crealisting attributes like Fletcher tive, attributes such as risk has makes creativity come taking/taking chances, beacross as exclusive, as if only ing receptive to new ideas, specific individuals can be challenging assumptions. creative, and in my opinthere is one attribute in this ion that is not the case, our book however, that could world is filled with creativity spark some argument, that and it is all around us, from is ‘building on existing idethe houses we live in, the as to make better ideas’, I have found that it is the cars we drive, the television programmes we watch, the view of some people, that food we eat, down to the if what you have created has evolved from an existing shoes we put on our feet and even the ground we walk on, idea, it is not original. I can everything in our world has understand why some people may think that adapting been and is being creatively designed. from ideas is not original, but having been learning on creative courses for almost 5 years I know that there is a difference between imitating an existing idea and taking inspiration from idea, 8
How can we make creativity happen?
The difference between this and being a creative, is knowing how to encourage our creativity and get the most out of it, how can we make creativity happen? I don’t believe that there is one definitive way to make creativity happen, I believe that it is entirely personal to the individual and everybody has their own way to enhance their creativity that works for them. Creativity is not something that can be forced, it tends to be the case that when we are feeling the most creative or searching for the perfect idea, that our creativity fails us and we get what we call creators block, it is at these moments that we must do what helps us to get back into our rhythm,
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personally I like to sit or lay down with some relaxing music playing, this usually helps me get back into the process, if this fails then I must put the problem to the back of my mind and focus on something other than the task at hand, then with time the creativity will come back in a light bulb or eureka moment.
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The Flow This usually leads to something that creatives know as their ‘flow’ or ‘zone’, in Defining Creativity: The Art and Science of Great Ideas, Boon describes the flow as a condition in which the creative is in a state of being completely focused on the creative process and not thinking about irrelevant matters, where the creative mind is in full flow and talks about how the state of flow is caused by a release of dopamine in the brain, which not only has an extremely strong effect on attention which makes us focus, it also turns the state of flow into an enjoyable experience.
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Passion The state of flow is where I think creative passion comes from, weather it be a passion for painting, music, design, the fact that the release of dopamine during the flow gives the individual a pleasurable experience encourages a genuine passion and it is when you have a passion for something that you create some of your best work. Yo Yo Ma: ‘Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you are passionate about something, then you are more willing to take risks.’
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Killing Creativity
Although I believe that there isn’t any one particular things that enhance creativity, there are most definitely a range of habits that most have that can decrease or stunt creativity, according to writer Dan James at CoachCreative.com, there are 21 ways you can kill your creativity without even realising, the most important of which in my opinion are; never capturing your ideas and trying to work with little or no support. Ideas can sometimes come to you at the most unexpected and sometimes inconvenient times, but not recording and making notes of your ideas is one of the biggest errors you could make as a creative, to solve this you should carry a pen or
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pencil and a notepad or some paper with you at all times, this way you are prepared at all times for whenever you have a light bulb moment. As for trying to work with little or no support, working can help you to create some of your best work, however, without working with peers and having that outside opinion, you would never know that you have created something truly brilliant, having support in your work is an essential part of creativity, especially in design.
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After initially being briefed in on this project and receiving the ‘what is creativity lecture?’ I very quickly came to the conclusion that creativity is ultimately indefinable, I struggled to answer the question ‘what is creativity’ and decided that it was in impossible question. Through my research and throughout writing this essay I have found that it can in fact be defined, however it cannot be defined in a single statement, there are no right and wrongs because the definition of creativity is and always will be entirely unique to each and every person and not everybody will agree with other peoples perception of it, and through discovering this I have been able to form my own opinion. So, what is creativity to me? Creativity to me is a state of mind in which I am able to create something, absolutely anything, that is completely, uniquely personal to me. One thing that I have learned throughout the process of writing this essay, is that creativity cannot be forced or taught, it is something that people naturally have and it is up to us as creative individuals to continue to nurture and act on our own creativity. Arthur Koestler: ‘Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.’
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Ursula K. Le Guin: ‘The creative adult is the child who survived.’