“I’m not creative.”
I heard those words time and time again from my mum as she compared herself to my arty dad.
Usually over a meal she had carefully prepared, or during tea with cake she’d baked to perfection - layered with her homemade jam.
I hope you’re getting where this is going…
You see, being “creative” isn’t really a label we can avoid.
At its simplest, creativity is bringing imagination to life.
In his brilliant book The Creative Act: A Way of Being (which you must read or listen to), Rick Rubin reminds us that even taking a different route home is an act of creation.
My mother, over those meals, saw creativity as being able to draw or paint - that's what society had taught her.
Whereas my dad was always either in his room - a cave of pens, pencils, paints, and a lifetime’s collection of random "useful" things - or in his shed, where tools were neatly organised and a project was always underway.
He was the creative one.
But here's the thing, creativity is something that lives within all of us.
It’s in the way you wrap a gift, mend a jumper, write a message, arrange objects on a shelf, style an outfit or cook a meal with a touch of magic.
It’s in bringing a thought to life - no matter how small.
Creativity is simply doing something you imagined.
Maybe, if you redefine what creativity is, you can lean into it with more enthusiasm and understanding.
There is joy - and even peace - to be found in creativity.
And how far you take it, how you weave it into your life.
That’s entirely up to you.
You can order Rick Rubin's The Creative Act from World of Books - a certified B corp.