I’m reading a new book about creativity called Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod.
Hugh MacLeod is a cartoonist who began doodling on the back of business cards in 1997. Many many doodles later, he published Ignore Everybody and continues to publish a great blog called gapingvoid.
So far my favorite chapter is #6:
#6 Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
So true! Too often I hear people say “I’m not creative,” but is that really true?
Everyone is born creative. However sometime between kindergarten and today, perhaps during the tumultuous time called adolescence, doubt creeps in and we may think we aren’t creative. Fear kicks in. Our comparative brain decides that what we created wasn’t as good as what Johnny created. Creativity stops.
I find myself doing this – stopping the creative process because I think that I’m not good at something. To combat this thought, I’ve been reading about creativity, writing a blog and dabbling in photography.
We didn’t fear crayons in kindergarten, so why fear them now?
Want to create something great?
- Believe that you are creative
- Follow your passion
- Put in the hours
And don’t forget to grab your crayons.
#32 on Hugh’s list of creativity tips: Remain frugal. The less you can live on, the more chance your idea will succeed.
Living a frugal life makes it possible for you to follow your passion and create something great. So be frugal and create.
What do you create? Please leave a Comment.
My entire life I have had a passion to write. In my teenage yours I kept a daily journal detailing my life. Creatively I’ve worked on writing an autobiography, a screenplay and now I work obsessively on my Blog. Last night I actually began writing what I hope will turn into a published book (even if self-published) in order to complete one of my goals.
I used to be pretty artistic but that has since fallen to the wayside. Maybe someday I will pick that hobby up again. For now my focus is on my writing.
Steven, Just wanted to say that you are still artistic. Writing is art too. There are so many ways we can express ourselves creatively.
Good luck with your book.
Yes, children don’t have an inner critic looking over their shoulder yet!
I like his take on remaining frugal as well. I think I always had a sense of that.
I believe that children are trained out of being creative:
http://atthechalkface.com/2013/02/10/fear-of-creativity/