Hunter Dowding

2/17/19
5th block
Word Count: 534

What is Creativity?

What is creativity? How do we define it? It’s such a vast subject and it can take
on so many definitions. The first thing you probably think of when you think ​creativity​ is
art like a painting or a sculpture made with clay. I quote Albert Einstein, ​“Creativity is
intelligence having fun,”​ (Einstein). ​I t​ hink that creativity is anything from your
imagination, and you take that idea and you turn it into something. It all starts with an
idea, and the creativity part happens when you put that idea into motion. I also think that
creativity has to be something you enjoy, it has to be filled with passion. Creativity can
be a very experimental thing too. You try and put things together to make something
new and see what looks good together. That’s part of the beauty of creativity.

Creativity can look like just about anything. Creativity looks like a writer sitting
down with a pen and paper or a computer and pouring their heart out onto a page. It
looks like a musician playing an instrument. It looks like a painter brushing strokes of
color over a canvas. It looks like a director or a producer typing up a script for a movie
which they hope will win an Oscar. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is
creativity. It is clever and extraordinary and all you need to have is an idea. Creativity
looks like an idea brought to life. It looks so different to each individual, and can include
many different things, from painting to filmmaking to writing to music. It includes effort.
Multiple people will say that they ​aren’t creative ​or ​imaginative,​ but that’s probably not
true, if you apply yourself then we all have the ability to think creatively. Above all, it
includes your mind.

There are so many-- and have been so many -- creative people in this world.
Movie directors like Stanley Kubrick, Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and
the list goes on. Without George Lucas we wouldn’t have Star Wars, some of the most
iconic movies of all time. Painters like Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol,
Leonardo Da Vinci. Dare I say Bob Ross, maybe not known for any famous paintings,
but he was a teacher. He pushed people to be creative. There are so many creative
people that could be listed. Writers like Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Charles
Dickens, and J.K. Rowlings. These people all have in thing in common. They had a
vision, an idea. They turned that into something for people to enjoy and no one can ever
recreate that.

So are we born with creativity? To that I would answer, yes. However, there is
more to this. I say yes, we are born with creativity, but I think it also molded by what we
are subjected to. Experiences we have. We covet. We pull our inspiration from what we
are exposed to. As kids we made up games to play, and drew things that maybe didn’t
look like anything, but we knew what it was. I think creativity can be a way of learning in
some respects. You kind of figure it out as you go.