Discovering my creativity

I have never been what might be traditionally considered a creative person.  I cannot draw or paint, I cannot write poetry or prose, I cannot create beautiful crafts or a tranquil garden. I have tried different crafting activities before, things like making my own cards, cross-stitching.  I did them both for a while but soon lost interest.  I make cakes from time to time but generally only if there is a need and I’m ok at making sugarpaste flowers, but cannot really do character moulding.  I don’t think I do this often enough for it to be classed as my creativity outlet.

Having a creative hobby is supposed to help boost brain activity and help us cope with stress and promote positivity and wellbeing.  How we think about our creativity though expands into it being something that you discover over time, or that you excel at but take for granted and do it without thinking.

An article I was reading recently suggested that we could discover our own creative outlet by asking what gives us meaning and brings joy, what situations are we drawn to, what makes us unique, what do our friends love about us and what we daydream about.  This might be cooking, gardening, listening to others, making people smile or being really organised.

Once you have discovered what your outlet is think about how you excel at that and what it looks like to you, being proud of the attributes you have and how they set you apart from others.  When we think outside the box and explore ways to expressing your talent we can discover different ways to experience this more often.

I have spent some time reflecting on these questions and I still haven’t found what my creativity is.  If any of you feel moved to respond to the question of what my friends love about me, then feel free to drop a comment. 

I am still exploring who I am and came across a short quiz (https://ideas.ted.com/quiz-whats-your-creative-type/ )that proposed to help discover what my creative type was, here’s the results:

Result: You’re an Artisan.

You believe that being creative is its own reward. You’re driven to find the right rhyme, brush stroke, chord progression or tap technique. You truly love what you do, and you feel grateful that you get to do it. You can sometimes get so immersed in what you’re doing that you forget about your loved ones. Your dedication to your work and your willingness to share the credit also make you a great collaborator.

Just remember: You have a tendency to fall down a creative rabbit hole when you’re endlessly deliberating and fussing about your artistic choices. You are generally good with external deadlines, but when you’re not given a deadline by a producer, editor or client, sometimes you can get lost. In these instances, you need to establish your own self-imposed deadline and — this is important — mini-deadlines too. You’ll have to fool yourself into thinking your work must be completed by a particular date. Ironically, practicing this self-deception shows that you’re being real with yourself and your tendencies.

https://bottomlineinc.com/life/self-improvement/the-five-creativity-types described the Artisan creative as:

• happy to follow your creative pursuit even if no one ever knew about it or paid you for it.
• live for those moments of flow when you are so absorbed in creating that you lose all awareness of time and place.
• love the creative process even more than the finished product.

To maximize creativity and stay motivated…

• Indulge your desire to study, deepen and perfect your craft. Having a greater repertoire of tools will increase your natural enjoyment of your art.
• Collaborate. Artists whose skills are complementary to yours can boost your confidence and take your art in satisfying new directions.
• Ask for fair compensation for your work—don’t just give it away. Artisans find the work itself so rewarding that they can happily put countless unpaid hours into their art—potentially putting themselves at financial risk.

I love to study and learn in an effort to whatever I do better, although don’t actually know what my “art” is.  I like to find like-minded people to bounce ideas off and finding out other opinions and views.  I am not money motivated, although it does come in handy.  Fair assessment I’d say.