Christensen 1

Josh Christensen
Professor Szalay
English 2010
19 November 2015
An In-Depth Look At Todays Dilemma: The Lack of Creativity
Many things are offered in this day and age that make our lives easier and less stressful.
In the past few years, Ive noticed that so many of us are becoming increasingly more lazy
because of what some would consider an addiction to
things like cellphones, television, the internet, and
video gaming. These things are not bad. In fact, theyre
actually some of the greatest inventions and tools for
both work and fun that have ever been created. But
they were created, and therein lies the problem of our
generation. When someone becomes addicted to their
mobile device, or cant stop watching TV, they often
forfeit their opportunity to create something that may
change not only their lives, but others lives as well.
(Ernest)
What if the inventors of these amazing creations decided to take a break that day by
wasting their time away instead of creating that final component for their product? What if they
started wasting their time before they even had the idea? What would happen if a natural
disaster were to hit and the power went out, rendering all of those devices useless? All of these
questions are directly related to creativity. Without the gift of creativity that we all possess, the
world still wouldn't have the wheel. Nobody would live in houses or any kind of structure,

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because nobody would have any ideas. Building, or in some cases rebuilding anything, would
be impossible.

Even before preschool we start learning to create things. Weve all struggled to keep the
crayon inside the line at one point or another. Some of us took until 1st or 2nd grade, others had
it down before they even started preschool.
Speaking of our creativity, the principle is the
same today. We can all be creative. Creativity is
one of the greatest qualities any of us can be
blessed with, yet many never allow their true
creativity to be expressed (Waters). We all have
the ability to do something as simple as creating
(Different Art Made With Crayons)
a birthday card instead of going to the store to
purchase one, but many dont think that they could ever create something a little bit bigger, even
something as generic and simple as a table. With a little bit of instruction, creativity, and
practice, one can create anything that they put their mind to.

Building and inventing arent the only things that require creativity. It takes a creative
mind to be able to fix something when it breaks. Many of us have such a busy schedule that it
makes it very hard to take the time to fix something broken. There are many factors that go into
deciding whether to fix or replace a broken item, but the satisfaction of successfully fixing
something is enough of a factor for most people. Some of these factors include: time, expense,
knowledge, and motivation. All of these factors are important, but knowledge and motivation are
two of the biggest factors in deciding whether or not to fix something. Somebody who knows
and understands how to fix a certain item might be more successful than someone with no

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experience, who has no idea what they're doing. Of course, for those who want to delegate the
time and pay someone else, theres also the option to have a professional repair man fix the
item. This seems to be the most frequent practice for most people, meaning that all of their
creativity goes unused.

People not only replace things too often, but they consistently buy things instead of
making them, when it would have been perfectly practical and even cheaper to make those
things themselves. Everyone has different interests. Some people
are very creative, others not so much. This is why it can be either a
very good idea or a very bad idea to make something that you
could easily buy. Take a sculpture for example: if nobody ever tried
to create their own sculpture, there wouldnt be any. If the artist
didnt have any experience or any materials to work with however,
he couldnt create anything notable. For those with the means to
create their own sculpture to place in their yard, it makes much
(Hacks Feed)

more sense and will be much more satisfying for them to create

something and put it on display for others to see in their yard. For those without the time or
means to create, its much more practical to buy a sculpture to place in their yard. This way they
can still be proud of their yard, without having to worry about it looking like something that was
just thrown together.

Time is another factor that goes into the decision of whether to build/fix something or to
buy it new. There are four excellent questions to ask oneself before making this decision. They
are:

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1. Can I realistically pull off this project?
2. What kind of time commitment is really involved?
3. How much will this task cost to complete myself?
4. How much will I enjoy the process? (Cheney)
These four questions will always help in the decision process of whether to take the time, or
spend the money. Many people will earn more money in an hour at work than it would take to fix
or build an item. So economically, it would make sense for them to buy the item, or have it fixed
by a professional. By doing so, they spend money, but keep the time it would have taken. Other
people might spend the extra time, and save the money. There are so many factors that go into
the decision that there is no way to formulate a specific right or wrong way to do it. The
important thing to remember is to:
. . . do what you love. If youre doing something you enjoy, something you consider fun,
then the cost of your time is not a factor. If Im planting, growing, and picking grapes, Im
having a good time. But Id hate to replace my own roof, even if it would save me money
(DIY).
While under normal circumstances we can choose
whether to use our creativity or not, its important to
remember that sometimes we might be in a situation where
we dont have a choice. We often overlook the fact that we
have no idea when a natural disaster could hit. Natural
disasters such as flood, fire, earthquake, tornado and
windstorm affect thousands of people every year (Natural
Disasters). It doesnt matter how prepared we may be for

(A Tornado's Heading Your Way)

one of these events, there will still always be unknown risks

and problems that could occur. The most important part of any of these disasters is the relief

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and clean up. Since each disaster is different, each one presents a new situation in which one
must be creative in their contribution to relief. For example: In the event of a collapsed building,
one might use a metal beam or a piece of wood as a lever in order to lift a heavy object off of
someone. The creative possibilities are endless in these situations, and yet, there will always be
people wondering how on earth they might lift that heavy object without a jack or a machine of
some sort. A creative mind can literally save lives.

Whatever the concern may be with creating something, one must always remember that
a world without creativity is dead. Regardless of the fact that creativity keeps the world and the
people in it alive, many people are still scared to show their creative side. In a TED talk on
creativity, Tim Brown, the CEO of an award winning design consulting company told of a study
that was conducted by a professor at Stanford named Bob McKim who was a creativity
researcher in the 1960s and 70s. He had all of his
students take thirty seconds to draw their neighbor on a
blank piece of paper as fast as they could. Since most
people in general dont practice and develop drawing
skills, most of these pictures hardly even looked like
people. Without fail, every time he conducted this
activity with adult students, the most popular reaction
from them was to tell their neighbor sorry. Tim explains
He would point this out as evidence that we fear the

(Ali)

judgement of our peers, and that were embarrassed about . . . showing our ideas to people that
we think of as our peers, to those around us (TED). I would argue that this is one of the biggest
reasons why people are afraid to create: that they are afraid of the judgement of people who
they hold higher in the social system than themselves. With this in mind, I would beg the

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question: What if Thomas Edison was afraid to share his ideas with the world? In his young
years, he certainly didnt start out as an individual to whom many people looked up to. Without
his creative ideas however, we wouldnt have the light bulb. Just think of the world today without
light bulbs. Most people couldnt even imagine what life would be like without something that
has become so necessary to our lives. Yet, regardless of how popular his ideas were at the
time, if Edison hadnt been comfortable enough to share his idea and discovery, we wouldnt
have this luxury.

So how can we overcome this natural fear of sharing our ideas with others? I cant say
that there is a specific right or wrong answer. What I can say however, is that the world as a
whole needs to step outside of their creative comfort zone, and together we can all create a
society that is free from the fear of judgement. A society that accepts ideas, no matter how
strange or crazy they may seem. We must stand together to form a creative force that will bring
more success and happiness to everyone. Because creativity not only saves the lives of others,
but it saves ours too.

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Works Cited
Ali, Maan. "Creativity Takes Courage by Anthony Hos on Inspirationde." Inspirationde. N.p., 16
Nov. 2014. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
"A Tornado's Heading Your Way: Now What? - CNN - William P.J. Lynch Jr.com." William PJ
Lynch Jrcom. N.p., 25 May 2013. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
Cheney, Karen. Your Money or Your Time? Real Simple. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
DIY: Buying it vs. Making it Yourself. Get Rich Slowly. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015
"Different Art Made With Crayons." Crayola Crayons. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
Ernest. "9 Ways To Create Time, Space and Stillness For Meaningful Work." Ernest Barbaric.
N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
Hacks Feed. "19 Ways To Turn Your Garden Into A Fairy Tale With Rocks And Stones." Web
Boxes -. N.p., June 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
"Natural Disasters." Ready. N.p., 18 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.
TED. Tim Brown: Tales of creativity and play. Online video. YouTube. YouTube, 10 Nov. 2008.
Web. 5 Nov. 2015
Waters, Preston. "Why Creativity Is The Most Important Quality You Have." Elite Daily. N.p., 08
Jan. 2013. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.