Lessons in creativity (Part 1)

Take it for what you will but I have come to the conclusion that to be human means to be creative. Whatever we might say about the human condition — about what our purpose is, where we come from, where we’re going and what we’re to do with this finite shred of time we spend on earth — I think we’re here to create and be creative.

I can only offer as proof that when we create is when we feel most alive. And when we don’t create, or our creativity is stifled or maybe no one recognizes our creativity, that’s when we feel like something in our life is missing or even dying. When we don’t have an outlet for creativity or we have no capacity for creative, well, that’s when we might turn to vices or distractions or anything that will give us some temporary high that we’d normally get from creating.

To be human is to be creative.

I am speaking from my own experience and I’d be curious to hear how true this is for others.

Just one more point to add to the conversation: I think our world could use more of us being creative, not less. There are times when I worry if we will hit a saturation; if in all our scrolling and our video-heavy age, in our 15-seconds of influencer fame and our clamor for virality, we might be overwhelming ourselves with all the content we’re sharing.

I think it’s a valid concern and it’s certainly worth keeping in mind.

Still, if there’s something that comes close to the thrill of creation, it’s the joy of celebrating the work of your creative co-conspirators, friends and fellow human beings. And whether we’re bound for ending in a bang or in a whimper, we need art to remind us of goodness, to cut through our cynicism, to let us savor in our silliness and folly, and to help us image the world as better than we know it.

The world needs your art, your creativity, your passion project. It can only help, I promise.

Unless, to quote Kid President, you’re dream is stupid. Then you should get a better dream.

These are just a few of the things I’ve been mulling over as I’ve considered the past year or so, where I’ve had the chance to lean into more of my own creativity in my free time. So, for whatever it’s worth, I thought I would share just a few of my conclusions/tips/bits of wisdom on this gift of time I’ve had to be more creative. I’m calling them my “Lessons in creativity.” As always, let me know any lessons you might add.

It goes without saying, I hope, but I am just a fellow learner who is still figuring things out for myself. I am not an expert on creativity, so take that for what you will. I try my best to live by the words of C.S. Lewis: "Think of me as a fellow patient in the same hospital, having been admitted a little earlier, could give some advice."

I decided to break this up into two parts, just to make it easier to read in smaller chunks, so be sure to come back for Part 2!

To be creative is to be bored

I don’t know the science behind it but there is something to being incredibly bored … maybe even boring … that opens up your creativity. It gives you space to think, a time to chew things over or maybe the ability to connect things in ways you wouldn’t normally connect them.

I’m sure this will be somewhat of a running theme of this list but being bored is a good thing. We’re incredibly overstimulated, and when we’re overstimulated, we can only operate on a decision-by-decision basis, out of the very front, immediate part of our brain.

Creativity lives in the deeper parts, where we’re idle and open to inspiration. Being bored opens you up to all kinds of possibilities; being bored makes you want to create meaning out of your life; being bored is where wisdom and beauty and wonder come from, all of which you will need to be creative. Being bored, in other words, is vital to creativity.

(Photo by Chris Hughes)

If you want my advice, maybe my best advice for being creative, you need to put the phone down, hide the computer and strap yourself to whatever it is you want to create with — be it pen and paper, paintbrush and canvas, kitchen, camera, whatever. Strand yourself in a space where it’s just you and your creative tools. Set aside time for you to sit there, where your only goal is to see what happens. No agenda, no time frame, no distractions.

Our brains tend toward the creative. When they’re not worrying about how to survive the day or what’s on the grocery list or how to solve some silly problem at work, they will create.

Some of your best work comes from the ordinary

In my former life, a dear friend told me my job was, “to make ordinary people feel extraordinary and to make extraordinary people feel ordinary.” So too, is the work of the artist, at least in part: to make the ordinary seem extraordinary.

Art doesn’t come from the spectacular; it comes from things that are actually quite ordinary.

Street photography, the medium of art I connect with most, is really just images of people going about their everyday lives — whether it’s catching the bus or gathering groceries or just walking down the sidewalk.

"The magic of the street is the mingling of the errand and the epiphany." -Rebecca Solnit

Still life, landscapes, portraiture, gonzo journalism, architecture, theater, app design, strategic communications, latte art — they all share the same basis: to connect with everyday, ordinary life.

So, I encourage you to pay attention to the ordinary. I can’t tell you how many times an image as simple as a street sign or a fire hydrant or a mother carrying their baby or someone just trying to get from A to B has stopped me in my tracks and made me contemplate the beauty of everyday life.

(Photo by Chris Hughes)

Embrace the ordinary. Focus in on that which is unspectacular.

You’ll be surprised at the human connection it can create with someone who has seen or experienced that same thing and never had the chance to consider how extraordinarily ordinary and beautiful it is.

“Style” is a barrier to creativity

Jumping into a new form of art can be downright terrifying. You will find yourself look at professionals and people who are well-practiced in their craft and you will say, “I want to create like them.”

And then what you will find is the daunting, giant brick wall known as “style.” By style I mean you will feel the need to pick your genre, or to have your voice as a creator fully developed already. You will feel the need to pick a lane and stick to it.

In my experience, this can be a deterrent to creativity. Style is, after all, developed over time. But you may see creatives who have developed their own personal style and think that you need to have your own fully-developed style nailed down before you can create anything worth sharing.

Or, rather than dabbling in many different styles in order to find what fits you, you find yourself not even getting started because you want to wait until you have your own style perfected.

It helps, I think, to know that you will develop your own style by pushing ahead and creating even though you don’t have it all figured out. Dabble in many different genres and mediums and styles.

Years later, looking back over your collected works, you can contemplate your style at leisure. But for now you have more important things to think about. -Verlyn Klinkenborg

Imitate your favorite artists. Don’t let it get you down when you can’t mimic them exactly. Creativity takes time. Your style will evolve, just like it does with all great artists, and you don’t need to worry if the style you start with doesn’t stick with you throughout you work.

Remember, Picasso didn’t start out as master of cubism. And Half-Dome wasn’t the first photo Ansel Adams snapped through his camera. They each went through many iterations of their own work and many phases of their own style before they settled into what felt true to them.

And once they find it, most artists don’t stick with their chosen “style” throughout their work. They change, they dabble, they evolve.

My advice is to not let style bog you down. Start creating, share your work, evolve it. That’s how you will develop a style that feels best for you. And when it no longer fits, or the trends change, or it starts feeling stale, move on to something else. All the best artists evolve over time anyway.