People Who Are 'Not Creative' May Actually Be Overly Inspired | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyles

People Who Are 'Not Creative' May Actually Be Overly Inspired

More often than not, I've heard people remark that they're "just not creative enough." No matter the activity or the job calling for creativity, it seems that people generally tend to feel creatively inadequate.

93
People Who Are 'Not Creative' May Actually Be Overly Inspired

As I chatted my way through an interview early Saturday morning, I was asked such a simple, yet thought-provoking, question. The interviewer asked me where I looked to for inspiration. Despite majoring in a field that revolves around finding constant sources of inspiration, I found myself stumped. After pausing for a quick moment, I settled on "history." I pride myself on being a self-proclaimed history geek, so the answer was 100% truthful. The answer doesn't matter so much as the fact that I found myself unexpectedly taken aback by the question.

In hindsight, I could've spent two hours discussing that question, alone. Maybe, that's where my problem occurred. With an overabundance of inspiration stemming from every aspect of life, how could it be that anyone, including myself, could ever be uninspired?

I've never been great at decision-making. It's not that I don't know what I want necessarily; it's more about making the "right" decision. As such, I often find myself overwrought with all the potential outcomes from one singular choice. Likewise, perhaps it's not the lack of inspiration, but the surplus, that intimidates us. When people speak of lacking creativity, I think it really may come from a place of being overwhelmed.

This past Monday, I found myself drowning in pools of possibility generated by a creative monsoon. To jump-start our major sewing projects for this semester, we were tasked with creating a "mind map." Mind maps are basically the catalyst of brainstorming and begin with a single word, such as a place, a person, or a thing. From this one word, the individual is tasked with generating more words and ideas that relate to the initial word. Mind Maps work very simply, yet they result in an almost endless web of ideas.

Unsure of how I initially felt about "mind mapping," I was quickly engrossed in the process. So much so, that I had to spend a great deal of time narrowing down all the ideas I'd generated from a singular word. At a certain point, my brain was on overload, and it almost seemed counterproductive with all of the refining and culling I'd have to do. The final instruction of the exercise was to draw out three words that would encapsulate the final products of our projects. Within the span of about two hours, I'd gone from no ideas to 20 odd words in a web, and finally, to three, solid foundational concepts.

I felt creatively motivated, but I also felt guided and organized. Even with all the inspiration Google was bombarding me with, I was able to sift through and pinpoint the most relevant material. In a way, I think this process is what "non-creatives" need in order to find their innate creative spark. It's not that these people don't have the imaginative capacity to create; it's that they need guidance to channel their potential.

Creative work, whether it's professional or for leisure purposes, can often seem overbearing and insurmountable. Despite the common belief that we're imaginatively inadequate, we may just be lost. We're good at creating mazes of ideas within our minds, but we often find ourselves struggling to navigate them. I believe finding outlets, like Mind Mapping, to channel our thoughts is the key to unlocking our creative potential.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

3085
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

302126
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments