Creativity
A special way of thinking
Creativity refers to a special way of thinking, but not necessarily the thoughts themselves. It is the process that is creative, the processing of knowledge or facts. No one has yet been able to define creativity. The concept of creativity is simply too large, but it is close to "inventiveness", or the ability to create of make something new or original that no one has thought of before.
Creative persons are likely to have more fun and lead more interesting lives than others. They try out ideas, taking nothing for granted, and they consistently refuse to let their thoughts be limited by established patterns. They think outside the conventional frameworks, enjoy mental games and adopt new and different perspectives.
The child's natural way of thinking
Creative people have managed to maintain access to the child's natural way of thinking, precognition, undisturbed by words, categories, language and not yet disciplined by the laws of syntax. Creative persons therefore think associatively instead of logically and rationally, just like children. They think in pictures and their thoughts seldom follow determined, established or learned patterns. The easiest way to identify creative persons is to listen to whether they speak in pictures or metaphors.
Continuous associations
Creative people like to think and some may therefore seem absent-minded. Others must have someone to talk to as they continuously get new associations while talking. In this respect you can say that they use their surroundings for their own benefit. Creative thinking offers them so much pleasure that they need no other reward than to repeat the experience. The broadened consciousness and feeling of pleasure that arise in creative moments is called "flow" and is very contagious. Many persons may therefore be drawn into this and share a creative moment. Such moments often provide a powerful intellectual experience of pleasure, and like all intensive moments, it is accompanied by a loss of time perception. People with little creative talent are usually more conventional. As they do not speak in metaphors, they do not give the same impression of picturesque richness of words and they are most often very rational, skilled and their thinking is disciplined, based on facts, conformed to law and logical. Strongly structured or rigid persons with a black/white view of the world and people who believe in right and wrong are almost never creative.
Creativity requires self-confidence
True creativity, however, requires a rather high level of self-confidence and an environment that is free, without competition or rivalry. People with low self-confidence can be secretly creative but dare not talk about it. It takes a high degree of self-esteem to dare to challenge your surroundings and take the social risks this leads to.
Bengt Schager
