A feeling lingered with me, long after the thought did. The feeling that I could be creative. And then, somewhere during adolescence or burgeoning adulthood, my creativity was squashed. Perhaps it was because someone called an idea “stupid” or perhaps sometime in high school I was told that my poetry was done wrong. It could have been when I was taken aside in college and told I couldn’t write a coherent thought.
Whenever it was, my creativity was squashed.
It has taken me a few years, but I feel as if I have finally retrieved my creativity. More importantly, I understand and know how to nurture my creativity. And, as a writer, I feel more comfortable expressing my creativity. In fact, I’m more comfortable exploring creativity in various media.
Recently I’ve been reading about how adults can ruin a children’s creativity through making comparisons to other children or telling them that their ideas have no merit. Amazing, but even adults are adept at crushing the creative hopes of other adults.
Retrieving creativity can take a bit to overcome, but part of that is just staying open and silencing the inner critic. We can practice that on our own selves, but what about practicing it on others in our lives?
Is there a time when you have felt that you have lost your creativity because of external forces? When was it? What did you do to get out of the lull in your creativity?
Discussion
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