Creative attitude can be nurtured

Creative individuals have always been held in awe. The belief that people were born either creative or not creative somehow set them apart from other talented or not talented persons. Continuing studies, however, show that creativeness can be nurtured and that all of us can learn to adapt a creative attitude.

Creative people may not be inventors of machinery, painters, composers, musicians, writers, architects or designers; nor do they limit themselves to the find arts as they may be found in any walk of life. Creative people do distinguish themselves from the mundane, the ordinary by looking at things differently.

• They ask, “What if?”
• They wonder why.
• They notice insignificant details.
• They aren’t satisfied with pat answer.
• They visualize different outcomes; they see solutions to problems; they have no inhibitions about trying new approaches. A dress designer doesn’t see a bolt of fabric; she sees a new design.

A carver doesn’t see just a piece of wood; he may see a bird, an animal or a person.

Children are nearly always prone to be creative and often ask why. And when someone stifles their creativity, it makes them afraid of failure or of ridicule. Parents who note children who aren’t satisfied with the story ending they hear should encourage them to make up a new conclusion. Ask them, “How would you want this story to end?”

If they try to make a puzzle fit in a different way, let them try to fit the piece together in several ways.

Let them paint a picture in colors of their own choosing. Give them blank pieces of paper instead of buying coloring books with sketches where they must stay within the lines.

A grandfather I know saves boxes for his grandchildren and encourages them to make themselves a new toy when they arrive at his house. He is always on hand to question them, “What is that going to be?” and offers plenty of encouraging remarks to stimulate their progress.

Creativity has many characteristics and is difficult to measure with man-made tests. One sure sign is that which makes a person get off the so-called beaten track. It is the kind of thing that makes a factory worker stop in the middle of his assembly line and say, “There has to be an easier way to do this.” Or to cause a secretary to put down her pen and reorganize a report, providing more accurate information in a shorter time.

Creative individuals are sensitive to problems, practice divergent thinking, have a rich flow of ideas and are willing to pursue new lines of thought.

The creative person is anyone who takes risks, enjoys trying out a hunch and ventures into areas someone else may think is absurd or foolish.

A friend once said that his mother wrote a best selling cookbook, based entirely on the lean days when the family budget was strained long before the next payday. She was forced to be creative, he said. When the pantry shelf looked empty, she put together something that made our mouths water.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1988