Throughout this month, Tubman has been talking about "feeling good." If you follow us this month, you will see articles about all the physical, mental, and emotional ways we find to bring ourselves to a good place. The aspect I have chosen to focus on combines all three. One of the best ways for me to feel good is exploring creativity. So let's do just that. In this article, I will briefly go over my own experience with creativity, and discuss some ideas for how you can explore your own creativity, or appreciate the creativity of others.
What does it mean to be creative? Creativity can be present in both obvious, and unexpected places. Creativity is easy to identify in activities like drawing, painting, sculpting, writing, and designing. But there are a lot of other places where creativity can flourish. For example, to keep us engaged in middle school, my science teacher made a competition out of the quiz questions he asked us at the beginning of class. Quizzing your students isn't very creative, but making it a competition is. Another example of nontraditional creativity might be coming up with your own methods for solving math problems, or coming up with a unique way to remember your shopping list. As these examples show, being creative can mean a lot of things. But why should we be creative?
What is the purpose of creativity? Again, there are a lot of answers to this question. For me the purpose of traditional creativity is to explore emotions I haven't experienced yet, or explore my current emotions in a different way. Nontraditional ways of being creative can be useful because they help people stay engaged in a topic that might be boring or difficult to understand. I can assure you that my fellow students and I were significantly more engaged in answering quiz questions when we competing with other classes then we ever would have been if they were presented on their own. But there are other ways to participate in creativity too.
Sometimes, you can receive the benefits of creativity without being creative yourself. People do this all the time. Listening to music, viewing art, and even watching TV or YouTube are examples of benefitting from creativity without directly contributing to it. Appreciating the creativity of others is just as valuable as being creative yourself. Not only does it help you understand another person's perspective, it may even give you inspiration for your own creative ideas.
In summary, creativity is an important way to feel good. Whether you are being creative yourself, or appreciating the creativity of others, you are helping to make your world a more enjoyable place. Have fun, feel good, and stay creative.
