I attended a workshop recently where we were asked to tell as many people as we could what we were passionate about in five minutes. There were 60 of us in that hotel ballroom, but I only managed to talk to two people. The first woman I spoke with nodded in agreement and said “Cool,” when I recited my line: I’m passionate about encouraging women to use Creativity as a healing tool. She said she was passionate about going to a game in Yankee Stadium before it gets torn down. She was quite serious.
The next woman I spoke with said she was passionate about her 2-year-old son. I said it must be hard to leave him for our five day conference. She said “yes, I miss him so much!” and asked what my passion was. I told her and her immediate response was, “I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” To which I immediately launched into my usual line of questions.
Do you like to cook?
No, I don’t know where my kitchen is!
Do you like to garden?
I live in an apartment and I have a black thumb.
Do you ever read a map and choose a different route to travel?
Do you try new things?
Do you take risks?
Are you adventurous?
Well, that I can say I do, she said warily. But, I’m not creative. I don’t paint and I’m not crafty.
Being creative is more than making art – it’s an attitude. It’s a state of mind. Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.
OK, she conceded, then I guess I am Creative!
What about you? After all this discussion you have to consider yourself Creative too!