Creativity: Is It Born Or Is It Made?

How could we define creativity? It could be said that it is the ability to discover new associations between ideas, reaching beyond the limits already established. Everyone at some point in our life has been creative, either proposing a solution or posing a problem. In reality, this is what comes to our minds when we talk about creativity, garnished with some of the creative achievements that others have developed and that we have kept in our memory.

Some children may be born with a greater tendency to seek new solutions or walk virgin paths, but in reality the magic and power of creativity lies in passion. For this reason, we do not have a deadline to develop it or know the ages, but we work day by day  and it appears if we have a suitable space for it.

What characteristics must a product have to be considered creative?

RJ Hallman proposes:

• Original : which would be composed of:
  • Novelty: something infrequent, uncommon. It may be, for example, unusual in use or culture.
  • Unpredictability: a relationship that had not occurred before between the elements.
  • Uniqueness: there is nothing like it until then.
  • Surprise: it is something unexpected.
• Adapted : what is created is practical, useful and has value.

Creative thinking seems to require a modicum of intelligence, but from then on the association between the two characteristics is much less strong. In this sense, it would be good to make a distinction between:

• Gifted : You have above-average intelligence.
• Precocious : reaches the achievements with an age older than that established by law. For example walking, talking etc.
• Talented : he has a special aptitude in a specific area, be it music, sports, art …
• Prodigy : he performs an unusual activity according to his age.
• Genius : here we could include the aspect of creativity. Apart from developing his “work” outside the established limits, he puts passion and stands out with what he does.

Creativity in this sense seems more sensitive to other factors, such as how to enhance it. Thus, we come to the big question, could the development of creativity be enhanced then? The thought distinguishes two forms, according to JP Guildford, one of them would be the form that an established script would follow and already traveled by others with success (convergent thinking). This type of thinking produces a dichotomy: right ideas versus wrong ideas.

The other type would be divergent thinking, which would consist of contributing ideas other than those expected, leaving the established lines to create new routes or new solutions. We could then enhance creativity if we distance ourselves from the established lines and look for a new original idea to pose or solve a problem

Creative people are comfortable with the latter way of thinking and are drawn to the challenge that development itself poses. This concern enables them to go  beyond established limits and find revolutionary solutions. 

Creativity and optimism

After the data provided, we can get an idea of ​​what creativity can bring us. People who do not know limits, who in the face of adversity seek and try different solutions, who work with their imagination in the face of problems, are also usually the ones who bring that point of optimism when all roads seem closed. They are usually the last to lose faith and that is why many times they end up finding the solution.

If in the face of life conflicts we always act the same or try the same solutions, we do not change the routes and it will be impossible to get out of the circle, if in the face of these tensions we contribute something creative and different, it may help us to see in a different way what we have been repeating for a while .

What characteristics define a creative person?

Creative people have some traits that characterize them, such as an open mind. People with originality do not know or impose limits, they look for new ways to reach the solution and are flexible in the face of adversity. They know that there is no single solution and they enter a new world when they work with other points of view.

People with creativity are passionate about what they do; they wonder, they question themselves and they tend to go beyond what they already have. The positive attitude also characterizes them: they do not stop and move on, with effort and work and above all with imagination.

Imagine to wake up, create to move forward and passion to achieve it. They can be the ingredients for a good recipe for our original product. So do we put our imagination to work?

You just have to release it

According to Buddhism, creativity lives in each one of us, we just have to release it, let it out. Buddhist thought defends that since we are born, we are conditioned and diminished our creative capacity. For this reason, young children tend to be more creative than many adults. They have not yet been deprived in their eagerness to imagine all kinds of stories.

As we get older, society tends to lead us down an established path that often leaves little opportunity for creativity. A life full of demands and obligations keeps our minds occupied in such a way that it is not possible to access it.

In this way, Buddhism proposes that through meditation we will learn to decondition ourselves and release the creativity that we all carry within. Imagine that the mind is like an onion. As time goes by, we have more and more layers that cover our minds, hiding our great creative potential. Through meditation we can “peel the onion” and access the creativity that is hidden under various layers of conditioning.