When Creativity Defines You
The longer I live the more I realize that we make a choice in the life we have. Creativity or being a creative almost automatically puts you at odds with those who have decided to play certain roles. When creativity defines you, then you will be resisted, and sometimes labeled.
When creativity defines who you are, then peace does not rest in the mundane. You cannot rest in routine. You can't stand control or micromanagement. It is the artist spirit to be free and to have a fire burning inside.
The creative often flock together and in so doing find peace in their tribe. But I suppose there are millions upon million of artists in the workplace that are either forced to put the artist away each and every day or are standing out as the one who just can't leave well enough alone. They have no tribe and therefore stand in a place of battle. Or they must eventually raise the white flag of surrender and put off the creative. I often wonder how many creative's are lost each day?
Can you truly lose that ability to be a change maker and choose to adopt work as work, and just to do what one is told? Yes, every day yes. That is one of the great tragedies and creative dilemmas in life. A workplace or country that seeks to kill innovation will squander what freedom was meant for. Any time a person is treated as a thing to be manipulated you are destroying the nature of a human being. Without artists and native creatives then we would truly be automatons just working with widgets and doohickeys. Without creativity, we would not have exploration or pioneers. In my life, I hope to become better at seeing people and treating them as such. That means no control, not trying to get but trying to give.
So when creativity defines you, rock it. If you're the lone creative in your workplace then shake the place up. Don't purchase the narrative that you are not paid to think at that level. Because you exist to create at any level, and you should. Be the "boss" of what you do. Do it with pride, but know when your talents are being misused and seek to use your gifts in your life.
I find that I still have the curiosity of a child. I often wonder why adults have made a game of making money. I often shake my head at how obsessed I get with trying to make money. How some have decided to play certain roles, and walk around as if what they say is literally an egg from the golden goose. Like the Little Prince, I walk around confused at just how strange adults act.
What becomes of us when we convince ourselves that money is the reason for it all? The fact that we act like adults is what messes things up? Shouldn't we, on the other hand, be creative as children, collaborative like a kid meeting new friends on the playground?
4
What would happen if adults stopped accumulating and started collaborating? If I look deep within I know this creative spirit matters.
