Creativity Stereotypes ? Are They Holding You Back?

Here's a quick quiz:

1) When I see a see a sunrise, I'm moved to:

A. Compose a poem.

B. Try and capture the beauty with my paints and brush.

C. Stumble drunkenly into bed -- boy that party was a lot of fun.

D. Cover my face with my pillow and go back to sleep. Who in their right mind gets up early enough to look at sunrises?

2) At work, I'm the person my coworkers go to when they need someone to:

A. Think up a new theme for the office party (especially if they want it to be a bit wild and off the wall).

B. Get people excited for the party.

C. Organize the party.

D. Clean up after the party.

3) In school, I was considered one of the:

A. Brains.

B. Jocks.

C. Nerds.

D. Nothing. I was kicked out my sophomore year.

Now take this test again and write down what you think a creative person would choose as his or her answer.

Scoring: Well, there's no real scoring here. The point is to get you thinking about creativity and stereotypes.

In another creativity article I wrote, "Quiz: Are Your Creative?", I pointed out that the biggest difference between creative people and those who aren't is creative people believe they're creative and uncreative people believe they aren't.

But, it's one thing to say it and something completely different to live it.

I believe one of the things that prevent people from fully realizing their creative potential is the idea of stereotypes. They think they cannot be creative because they don't look, act, live, etc., a certain way. And, unfortunately, that belief can become so powerful it truly does cripple their creativity.

Let's take a closer look at these three stereotypes.

1) When I see a sunrise?

You can still be a creative person and not be moved to paint a sunrise or write a poem about it. Everyone is different and everyone draws their creativity from different things. Me, you couldn't catch me anywhere near a sunrise without an IV drip of coffee in my arm. And even if that did happen, I'd be lucky if I could reach the creativity level of a turnip.

The point is every muse is different and every muse dances to a different drum (or maybe it's not even a drum, maybe it's a French horn.) Sunrises make you yawn? So what? Find what gets your muse dancing and go with it.

2) At work?

You don't have to act like a Bohemian to be creative. In fact, that image of a black-clad, beret-wearing, long-cigarette-smoking Artiste has been the bane of many would-be artists. I can't tell you how many people I've run into who don't have time to BE creative because they're too busy trying to LOOK creative.

Creativity comes in many shapes and sizes. It also dresses in a variety of outfits -- from t-shirts and paint-splatted jeans to suits and ties to cocktail dresses to, yes, the all-black look.

Don't worry about how your creativity relates to how you look or act. There's no correlation between the two.

3) In school?

Again, there are no studies linking creativity to getting bad grades or being a social misfit. Creativity is just as likely to have been class president as it was to have been caught smoking in the bathroom. Or kicked out of school altogether. (Now, whether those schoolyard memories are fodder for creative pursuits is a topic for another day.)

Basically it comes down to this -- creativity doesn't fit into any neat box. Whether that box may be unconventional or conservative. Whether it's covered with clay and furiously spinning pots or impeccably dressed and churning out million-dollar deals. Whether it's dressed in black and discussing Satre in a coffee shop or pushing a stroller in small-town America.

Creativity is just that. Creative. It doesn't care what package it comes in.

It only cares that you use it.

Creativity Exercise -- Take Away The Power of Stereotypes

Go back to the quiz. Look at the answers you chose for yourself. (If one of my answers didn't fit -- which is entirely possible -- turn your answer into fill-in-the-blank.) Look at the answer you instinctively felt a creative person would have selected. I'm going after instinct here -- don't worry about what you read in the article. Or go back and see how you answered before you read the article.

Do you have two different answers? Describe what makes the answers different and why.

Do you describe yourself in completely opposite terms as you would someone creative? Why is that? Do some journaling on the answer.

Now try describing yourself again and this time add the statement "and that makes me creative" or "yet I still am creative" at the end. For instance: "I hate sunrises and that makes me creative. I was a model student yet still I am creative." Write these out ten times each day until you begin to believe it.

(Source: Freeing Your Creativity: A Writer's Guide by Marshall Cook)

Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of "Got Ideas? Unleash Your Creativity and Make More Money." She offers two free e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.TheArtistSoul.com.

---

Better Links Directory

Produce Creativity: 4 Ways To Motivate Your Melon

It was 8:00 PM and I'd hit a creative wall... Read More

Creativity Management ? Its All About Routine

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Go Ahead and Think Outside the Box!

I am trying to create a discipline where I blog... Read More

Ideas

While the inception of penicillin brought a bit of a... Read More

Connect with Your Surroundings

Clutter is one of my favourite topics, and I've written... Read More

10 Tools for Dealing with Criticism and Rejection

Ouch! Whether it's feedback we've asked for, an unsolicited remark... Read More

Innovation Through Concept-Combination

There are many creative problem solving techniques used by inventors... Read More

How To Master Your Game

Learn how to master your area of endeavor the right... Read More

The Creativity Creed

I believe that creativity is a natural order of life... Read More

Are You A Creative Meathead?

Remember Archie Bunker's description of what a Meathead was on... Read More

Analysis of The Monkeys Paw by W. W. Jacobs: A Study in Lateral Thinking

I first read The Monkey's Paw as a youngster in... Read More

Sharing Our Creative Work with Others

In my "Roadblocks to Creativity" e-course, I ask the question:"What's... Read More

How To Get In The Zone And Blast Your Marketing To A Higher Level

This may come as a surprise... but many marketers are... Read More

Top Ten Reasons To Start Creativity Coaching

DEVELOP YOUR ARTISTIC CONFIDENCE I'd really like to write but... Read More

The Sylvia Plath Pattern Of Creative Flow

* Sylvia Plath teaches a valuable lesson about the Even... Read More

The Optimal Mind State

Let's begin by defining the optimal mind state and the... Read More

Macrovision

These days it's all about breaking things down into manageable... Read More

A Question of Time and Memory

I have been struck recently by a number of questions... Read More

5 Ways to Enhance Your Creativity

We're born creative. However, this innate characteristic becomes buried as... Read More

Tap the Creative Inside You

Imagination is the source of creativity. It's a place where... Read More

Creativity Myths

Sustained myths about Creativity and Innovation lead to confusion, bad... Read More

Connect With Your Creative Dream

We get so busy in our day-to-day life, with all... Read More

Creative Thinking versus Critical Thinking

The process of creative thinking is often, mistakenly, intertwined with... Read More

Our Limitless Quantum Reality

Modern science tells us that on a sub-atomic level --... Read More

9 Steps to Supercharge Your Productivity with Creativity

Time is the great equalizer. Everybody has the exact same... Read More