Recently, I’ve been immersed in many enlightening conversations both in coaching sessions and everyday interactions about what it means to authentically create. A common initial reaction I encounter is a self-doubting, “I’m not creative.” This perspective reminds me of the way people often label themselves as either introverted or extraverted.
Personality science suggests that most of us are actually ambiverts, falling somewhere in the middle of the introversion-extraversion spectrum, rather than at the extremes. Carl Jung’s famous concepts of introversion and extraversion aren’t black and white but are instead a spectrum. Most of us don’t reside at the polar ends; we oscillate between them based on circumstances, mood, and environment.
I believe creativity works in much the same way. It’s also a continuum. There are moments when we feel bursting with creative energy and other times when we feel utterly uninspired. So, if you’re still reading this and think, “Hey, I’m not creative,” then this blog is specifically for you!
Since this is a photography blog, let’s start with something familiar. You’ve likely taken a photo before. Perhaps you zoomed in on a detail, adjusted the lighting, or decided whether to use the flash. What you were doing perhaps subconsciously was making choices about how to adapt your environment to capture or enhance a particular experience.
Once I became aware of this, I began to see how, even when not taking photos, I was always subtly adapting my vision towards experience in much the same way. This could be as simple as choosing the music for a walk be it energetic pop or calming classical or deciding to tune into the soothing sounds of nature instead.
Feel free to think about other everyday actions, like experimenting with different types of movement perhaps yoga, dance, or a simple stretch. All these are acts of creation.
Our capacity to create shows up in virtually everything we do, often invisibly. You don’t need to be a savant in painting or a renowned musician to recognize your creative potential. When we stop seeing ourselves as creative, we limit our ability to shape our own lives. Think about the various roles you play, how you help others, or if you are a mentor. There’s creativity in all of it.
If you still find it hard to view yourself as creative, that’s okay too. You can disregard everything I’ve said and return to your routine. But if you pause to reflect, you might discover that you’re more of a creator than you think, subtly sculpting your life’s experiences one choice at a time. Embrace this notion, and watch how it transforms your perception of yourself and your interactions with the world around you.
All it takes is to make one intentional choice to start adopting this mindset of creator. Just from recent experiences, I have already seen an energy shift in giving people the permission to see themselves as the creators of their own imagination. Once you start creating for yourself, the rest will follow suit.
After all, life is now.
