Cursed to Create

Do you realise that we as humans have literally been cursed to create?

Which is why it baffles me when people attempt to define themselves as “creatives” from a professional point of view, as if doing a bachelor of arts degree somehow means you have cornered the market on being “creative”.

My rebuttal, without fail, is: “That’s total rubbish.”

At the risk of sounding slightly biblical, it’s stated in some ancient book or other that we are all created in the image of a divine power, regardless of gender. Now, whether you are religious or not, you cannot deny that mother nature, the universe, and everything in it, are focused on constant creation and then destruction, the never-ending cycle of life and death.

And you, dear reader, are part of the endless cycle. Even if you’re from Mars, it still applies.

Just because you don’t draw, design or write, doesn’t mean you are not creative.

If you are an entrepreneur, you are definitely creative.

If you are a parent, well, it goes without saying, you are creative. I mean have you tried to entertain a two-year-old for more than an hour?

If you are a scientist, engineer or a theoretical mathematician, guess what, I recon you’re creative.

If you are an employee doing the best you can, even if it’s in the finance department, you are still being creative, you are creating something, a solution that would not be there without you.

As someone in the, so-called, creative professions, I sometimes think we are less creative than we think, because the creativity we express is part of a commercial transaction. David Ogilvy once said the most dangerous thing in advertising is original creativity, most probably because unbridled creativity is not just about commercial reward and sales copy. And, pure creativity can’t be owned by a small group of people with titles like art director, copywriter etc.

The bottom line is, don’t let labels get in your way.

If the urge takes you to build something, to solve something, to make something better, that means you’re creative. Period!

And, if you’ve done it in one area of your life you can do it elsewhere. That’s called practice.

Enjoy the curse of creativity, and go forth and multiply, that’s what I think 🙂