Creativity can be a fickle thing. At times, you will get stuck on one idea and keep turning it over in your mind. Then, you’ll think you have a great idea, but for one reason or another, it’s shot down and you never return to it. Let me tell you something: If they hate it, you’re doing something right.
That phrase isn’t exactly novel, but it’s true. If someone hates something you’re doing, instead of ditching the idea, try and understand why they hate it. If it’s because it’s not something that they have seen before, chances are that they simply don’t understand it. It’s possible with some refinement your idea will actually work on a grander scale. For whatever reason, it seems that our society has become programmed to stifle any sort of creativity that doesn’t conform to pleasing the lowest common denominator.
Of course, your stuff could simply suck and you inevitably come to the conclusion that you need to go back to the drawing board. Few ideas are irredeemable. But, if you discover you were simply doing exactly what you wanted to do, then you need to stick to it and find the right medium or audience that will fully appreciate it.
I cannot stress the tragedies of art that simply is not appreciated until after the artist’s death. There are so many cases in history of persecution and censorship (& even prosecution) that keep true creativity from actually blossoming. Human beings are inherently creative, no matter what you might find yourself doing.
If you are adding to the overall health of the universe with your actions, then you are creative. Even if it’s only a new process for the most seemingly mundane task to save time and energy, that is creative. Every single human being is creative, no matter what anyone tells you. If you improve any other human being’s life in any way, that’s true human creativity at its best.
Also, if you find yourself stressing over a creative project, chances are you’re trying too hard. I find myself guilty of this all the time. In fact, I realized that the best material that I have ever created focuses on the most simple things, like imaginary friend-type characters. You take the simplest things and turn them inside out and create something no one has ever seen before. That is exceptional creativity, first and foremost what I wish to bring into the world.
But, anyone can do it with the simplest things. If you can bring a smile to someone’s face just by turning a phrase or singing a lyric or doing something incredibly kind and generous, you have been creative. It isn’t just about writing poems and stories, drawing pretty pictures, or being the architect of great buildings. It’s about being a good person that gives of one’s self without ever losing the essence of that self.
With that, I hope that you will see just how creative you truly are. If anyone ever hates you for that, kill them with kindness. Know that you’re doing it right.
