IS CREATIVITY MEANT TO BE A PART OF MY LIFE? BY JOEL PRIMACK

I’m in my second creativity class with the same professor, who is spectacular, but I might not be cut out for the class.

The professor and my friends said I will struggle with the class, silencing my Voice of Judgment (VOJ), I still registered for the class. I want to become more creative, so I will earn more money and live a happier life. However, I don’t feel the creative juices flowing through my veins the way it does for my peers around me. My goal is not to become the most creative person ever, just a bit more.

It’s hard for me to be creative, so I continuously ask myself, “Am I meant to be creative?” I keep answering it with, “Yes, to some degree.”  How much, I’ll never know, but I do know that somewhere I am supposed to be creative. This frustrates me constantly, making me feel as if I have made a mistake by taking the class and all my hard work will never help me in becoming more creative.

I’m busy, so often I do the first right answer, so I can check it off my list. I realize that that mindset is killing my creativity. I am challenging myself at least once a week to find and do the second, third, fourth, etc. right answer to a task.

I’ll ask better ideation questions, criteria vs. ideas exercise and focusing more on the process, not just the result. This will build my creativity muscle back, so I can flex it frequently and feel comfortable doing so.