What"s Creativity ?

According to the dictionary definition of "create", ordinary people are creative every day. To create means "to bring into being, to cause to exist" something each of us does daily.

We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way. First this involves an awareness of our surroundings. It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world. This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture, as well as taste, when we plan a meal.

Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss.

A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things. If we believe the expression, "There is nothing new under the sun," creativity is remaking or recombining the old in new ways. For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph.

A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to apply them to achieve some new resuits. To think up a new concept is one thing; to put the idea to work is another.

These three parts of creativity are involved in all the great works of genius, but they are also involved in many of our day-to-day activities.