Creativity Tips: Take the Creativity Quiz

It pains me to say this, but several CI team members have recently mentioned they enjoy the blog even though they are not creative.

Seriously? Are you trying to kill me here? Just twist that knife in my gut, people. So, love you, admire you, need you to focus. Chug some coffee and answer these questions:

1. Are you choosing your own clothes today?
2. Have you ever made someone who was sad feel better?
3. Can you write a sentence that conveys exactly what you want?
4. Can you cook anything without a recipe? Do you vary the spices now and then?
5. Can you paint, knit, dance, quilt, do macrame? Do you remember macrame? (OK, that last question isn't really a question. My mind wanders.)
6. Have you ever suggested an idea in a business meeting?
7. If you miss a highway exit, do you give up and park on the shoulder? Or do you find another way home?

You may have answered all those questions with, "Jan, you're buggin'." I've heard it before. Hell, I'm thinking of putting UR BUGN on my license plate. But here's the simple fact, folks. We are all creative. And, yes, that includes you.

If you answered even one of those questions with a "yes," mazel tov! You get a gold star for creativity. FYI, questions 3 and 5 are no more important than the others. You may not be a painter or a poet or a photographer. Some of us have talents -- and work damn hard to hone them -- in areas other people lack.

Isn't that wonderful? We're not all the same. But we are all creative. Everyone of us invents new answers, new solutions. We are creating our lives. We're moving forward and, hopefully, making the world better in that creative process.

This week on the Creative Instigation blog, we're going to focus on the heart of creativity, something I wander away from after almost three years of daily blogging. I promise not to nag. You promise to appreciate your own talents!