Creativity and why you shouldn’t care

Have you ever started a project, gotten about half way through, then – out of nowhere – were abruptly walked in on by your spouse/lover/parent/friend eating a cherry chocolate cheesecake… only to subsequently spray food particles all over you as they so graciously offered up their opinion on your progress? Did you spend the next thirty minutes wiping down that project from all of the unsolicited spew that came flying out of their mouths? Did it really add anything to your work? Do they need to stop? Do you need help fast? Well…

Disregard the critic. Cancel out the commentator. Ignore the interpreter.

When you create, you will undoubtedly have a constant stream of ‘what ifs’ coming your way from your companions. What if you used this color in stead of that?  What if you moved this piece over to the left? What if you tried this new idea that I was thinking of? You will soon start to realize that most people want to piggy back onto your projects and create through you. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a wonderful thing when people get inspired – especially when it has to do with handmade goods. However when you create things by hand that others see and start wanting to change (but not by doing the dirty work themselves), that’s where trouble can brew.

There is just one key element you need to remember: ignore them.

Ignore them and let them know that they should take that fat chunk of cherry chocolate cheesecake out of their mouths and create something for themselves. Your own inner vision is yours and yours alone, not subject to the whims of others. Creativity needs the power of your mind to blot out all of this unsolicited advice on how you should be creating. You are in charge of your ideas, let no one tell you otherwise.

What is creativity anyways?

According to Dictionary.com: the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, or relationships, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, and interpretations.

Creativity according to cowboy campfire talk: Creativity comes from within, to truly find your niche –  you have to be yourself. All of the experiences you have had in your life make you who you are today, at this very moment. When you take the time to settle down and create, you ultimately pull from all of these experiences to guide you in your decision making process. The process of those decisions mixed with an added injection of your innate personality is what will make your craft unique and thus creative.

If you let other people dictate how you think and make creative choices, then your work will no longer be your own. Stand strong, be yourself, and create from within.

Share your thoughts on how you define creativity and how you express it in the comments below…