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.

Chalk Walk encourages creativity, celebrates art Tampa Tribune BRANDON - Creative kids of all ages gathered around Clayton Lake March 14 to stake out a space on the sidewalk and color their world. ... and more »

Muralist exudes creative compassion Tampa Tribune For a select few, though, his creativity comes free. A graduate of St. Petersburg's Northeast High School, 39-year-old Hulfish has found a niche, ... and more »

Bangor Daily News

Presque Isle arts center reopens with mission to foster creativity Bangor Daily News “We didn't have easels and paint sets and fun places to go and do creative things,” she said Saturday. “Unless it was during art class at school. ... and more »

Malaysia Star

Ruben Navarrette Jr.: Divisive issue of immigration calls for creativity Sacramento Bee By summoning creativity and courage, lawmakers can repair a system that is out of order. And America will be better for it. Ruben Navarrette Jr. writes for ... Today's Immigration Reform Rally begins a New Era for AmericaJornal.us News Agency all 874 news articles »

DailyFill.com

Paloma Faith struggled with reading China Daily But my mum was so encouraging of my creativity. I used to present her with random pages of letters in a line - well executed and with rainbow borders, ... Paloma Faith Quick to Distance Herself from Amy WinehouseCMR all 18 news articles »

Baltimore Sun

Peabody players strike a note of volunteerism Baltimore Sun The class, Community Engagement and Creativity: 21st Century Skills for Professional Musicians, was created by alumnus Dan Trahey, who also coordinates the ... and more »

Wilkes Barre Times-Leader

St. Jude School students get creative with household items Wilkes Barre Times-Leader Second-grade students at St. Jude School, Mountain Top have been working on a reading unit about being creative. They decided to put their creativity to the ... and more »

Holland Area Arts Council judges, shows off high schoolers' creativity MLive.com HOLLAND — Lee Huizenga took up photography as a hobby several years ago because he was interested in its ... and more »

Problem solving as a tool of creativity TODAYonline I'VE left problem solving to the last of the seven vital elements of creativity. It is more a consequence than a cause of creativity. ...

Canon Partners LeSportSac On Creative Output TAXI Design Network ... all over the world, has applied the same fashion-forward design creativity to create this exclusive camera case for Canon PowerShot Digital cameras. ...