Many people think that creativity is a trait that is only reserved for people who are born with the talent. That it is a child's natural talent, a gift if you would call it and like beauty, it is not possible to nurture and develop it. That it can't be taught by any means. Well, I do not think so.
I believe creativity is a skill that can be taught and developed to anyone especially children. The main reason why I think children are more suited to creativity training is because children are not exposed to the world around us as much as we adults do. They may not have comprehend every faucet of life as we adults know. They do not have the subconscious mindset that we adults do.
Take for example, you have an idea that you think is brilliant yet your subconscious mind is also telling you that if you told others about your idea, you will be laughed at and ridiculed. As a result over time, your creativity may have suffered or suppressed.
For children, their subconscious mind has not been fully developed yet. They still do not have the ability to tell whether something they have in their mind will be laughed at by others.
For us adults, we have a certain structure in life, we are expected to behave and think in a certain way or we will become society's outcast. Being fearful of being outcast whether be by your friends, family, colleagues or associates forces us and our minds to conform to a certain way of life. It can be a determent to your creativity. Over mind, this certain way of life becomes engrained into us and our subconscious mindset.
With that said , that does not mean adults can't develop their creativity. Just that it may take a longer time and the results may not be apparent.
Here are some simple steps you can take to develop your creativity skills.
1) You have to make the mental change that you are creative. You need to remove the mental block first. The easiest way to do that is to start a project, maybe on your hobby. Say for example, you are into cooking. Think of a new dish and give it a unique name. Don't use any references from your cooking books.
2) Broaden your horizons by reading magazines, reading news, travelling etc. Basically let your imagination run wild.
3) Carry a notepad or any recording device such as a mp3 recorder. Then record any ideas that struck you. You find that ideas may come to you in the most unlikely places and moments. So it helps if you have some way of recording it.
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About the Author
Ricky Lim is the online editor of a creativity thinking site. Visit his site today for more info on creativity exercises.
