Creativity is simple. A misconception we often have is that creativity is attached to a particular activity such as painting, dancing, singing, or poetry. The truth is that creativity is in everything we do. It is the core essence of life. To be creative is to be in love with life, and everyone is an artist. We see it everywhere in nature from how spiders spin, birds’ nests, bees’ honeycombs, bowers and so forth. Nobody goes on to train these animals on how to be creative, and yet they get it done so wonderfully.
To create is to bring out of the darkness that which was non-existent. The very first step in doing so is to desire: ‘Let us make’. Desire could come from anything: Strong emotions, nature, social experiences, and issues. Oftentimes, it comes from others’ works of art: ‘Let’s make man in our image’. Picasso once said, ‘Good artists borrow, great artists steal’ That meant there is nothing new under the sun, and the process of inventing is simply the process of reinventing.
That is why the second step to creation is exploration and research. It’s a fact that all creators draw from other creators. Musicians listen to other musicians’ music, writers read other writers’ books, and entrepreneurs learn from other entrepreneurs. The Greeks had nine muses of artistic endeavors. These muses were believed to inspire the people in areas of astronomy, hymns, theatre, history, poetry, song, and dance.
From inspiration, the piece of art starts to take shape. Development is a steady process of adding detail on top of detail. It’s said that the tortoise is in nature to show us how to properly create: step by step without rushing. The process also involves stepping back to assess, modify, and refine the details.
Now, the biggest challenge when creating is knowing when to stop. Patrick Lumumba clearly put it when he said, ‘Time limits are good things. No matter how good a dancer you are, you must leave the stage’. Sometimes, beautiful works of art are ruined by overdoing it so much so that the audience finds it monotonous. Knowing when to complete is the final and most integral part of the creative process.
