Is being creative a gift for few?

One day, in a circle of conversations about the artist within each one of us, a woman answered one of my arguments on the subject and said - "I don't consider myself an artist - I'm not creative. How can we all be artists?" My answer to her, who dressed in her own style and had an unusual haircut: "Correct me if I'm wrong. You built a particular style to dress in. You stick to this identity - which is also in harmony with your haircut. Together they pass me attitude! You are a woman with a strong personality. And you wake up every day with this message in the way you dress, walk and talk. This is being creative. You have chosen your clothes, you have built an identity, and you pass on a message of strength and femininity at the same time."

Do you like to leave your house tidy - where each piece has a place? Do you align your books or clothes by sizes and colors? Do you like to combine unusual ingredients or different colors when cooking and making a dish? Do you like to choose your clothes in the morning? When you tell a story, do you dramatize it in any way? When you encounter a problem within your company - or within your home - how do you solve it? You've already woken up one day and said, "Wow, I've got an idea - what if we give a special gift to our friend?"

And when you go through these situations, have you considered the possibility of this being your creativity? 

Creativity is not accidental. It is a capacity that can be developed at any time and in any place. If you have the ability to think and project wills and images, you imagine. And, if you imagine, you already have the basis of creativity in your essence. Creativity is a personal decision. A lifestyle. It's curiosity. It's making. A tool to solve problems. The transformation of the old into something originally new. Creativity is the ability to make new connections between different subjects and medias. 

Unlike what many believe, for me creativity is not a divine gift. Some people have certain capabilities, but so it is with other abilities. The development of creativity, like other disciplines, requires effort, determination, and practice. Creativity can become part of your everyday life, through your presence, your choices, your surroundings, challenges, diversity, versatility and knowledge. The conscious and unconscious. Building and deconstructing. Wrong and right. Creativity is part of a vision and perspective of life.

For me, creativity emerges as a reflection of the lifestyle I lead. It is part of all my days. The diversity and versatility of my choices. Tidying up the house, cooking, choosing clothes that reflect the mood of the day. The work, the projects, the conversations. I set myself the daily personal challenge of giving a creative touch to everything I touch, each day in a new place, new ideas, new surfaces, new challenges. Today, with constant practice and determination, inspiration and creation work like this, as a natural process of inspiration and expiration. For me being, creative means being open, staying awake, present in the moments, to absorb my surroundings, to be interested in everything that is coming. Every day I exercise creativity through external research in different media and disciplines. To read and study about the most varied subjects. To talk to different people, to put myself in positions where I leave the comfort zone. And, above all, a constant search in the internal spectrum. A constant look inside -because after all, we have more answers inside of us than we imagine - or trust. There is no formula for "being creative", because it is, first of all, an individual process - almost a personal game between conscious and subconscious - before it has a change of becoming collective.

We are all creative humans, as it is a collective capacity that can be developed. So, first of all I'd say - take a step back and ask yourself: how do you see your life - in all its details: in black and white, or in color?

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Leia o texto em português, aqui ;)

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