1am Thoughts on Creativity

CREATIVITY.

It means different things to different people, which probably just shows how little we understand this mistique word. And although we seem not to fully grasp the meaning of what creativity really is, it seems like we've already made up our minds about what creativity isn't. It's not math or physics for sure; at least that's what we've been telling ourselves.

Coming from an Eastern European country, most parents would *not want their kids to end up categorized as being "the creative ones". Our whole highschool system is separated into two different pathways you could choose to undergo: real or humanitarian. The humanitarian area is supposed to be for the more creative types, except there's nothing creative about studying in a humanitarian class, it simply ends up being the class for those who can't keep up with the fast studying pace in the "real" classes. Around certain East European countries, "creative" is a synonyme for "bad at math" otherwise known as "stupid". But we've got it all wrong...

What is creativity? Well, the root of the word is "create", which should tell you enough to understand why most people are wrong when thinking about creativity. A creative person is literally a creator. The act of creation is what makes you creative, and it literally doesn't matter whether you create an idea, a product, a business, a book, a game, a new algorithm, etc.

Final thoughts. You should strive to be creative in a world full of consumers...