Creativity is Allowing Yourself to Make Mistakes
What does being a creative person mean to me? Creativity is a widely misunderstood aspect. Each of us can be creative. It is in defining it for yourself that it becomes a part of you.
This title of this is from a quote by Scott Adams. It is hanging up on my dining room wall and I think about it often because it resonates with me. In a conversation that I had recently with a friend, we discussed both the joys and trials of being creatively minded or walking the path of a “creative.” This word is misconstrued. Everyone is creative or has the potential to be creative, but not everyone lives their life in a way that creating things-whether that be career-wise or personally-is central to their existence. This led me to ponder over what being creative means to me. It allowed me to see that being a creative person is a huge part of my identity, my way of life, my thought patterns, and my idea of freedom.
What are the most important aspects of life for me? These are some words that come to mind:
Expression
Exploration
Diversity
Experience
Freedom
Connection
Optimism
Expansion
I pivot often. I am messy. Sometimes I start things that I don’t finish. Many ideas occur in my head at once. I am effortlessly optimistic one minute and deeply cynical the next. This is who I am. It is time I own this part of myself, lean into it, and stop letting fear paralyze me in the name of all the things that could interest me or paths I could go down.
Why is it that time and time again, I continue to be led toward a creative career? What is it that I keep coming back to no matter how many times I stray? The answer is this: creation, storytelling, a non-typical path, deep exploration of the self in the context of the collective, making the mundane beautiful and the beautiful mundane, provoking thought and evoking emotion.
I am here to explore what speaks to me, to follow what is incendiary within me, to connect with others, and to spread light by allowing myself to find my own light source regardless of what is “reasonable” or “realistic.”
It has always been so, but how wonderful it is that we are shown what is right before us through the simple act of conversing with someone we admire.
How I Learned To Inhabit My Days
Meditation and poetry allow me to not just go through my days, but to inhabit them. How do you show up for yourself and your life?
Self-Discovery and Shifting Culture
I remember sometimes feeling so entirely overwhelmed by my everyday life. I would feel a weight in my stomach and a sort of suffocation in my throat. Time seemed always to be moving too fast.
I was raised in a loving home, a home where I was cared for, nurtured, and supported. Despite this, I was also raised by parents born of another generation. One where meditation and spirituality were linked to “hippies,” “drug users,” and “societal outcasts.” One where talking about your feelings was a futile waste of time.
I didn’t discover the tools to help me become more present, more joyful, and better equipped to handle stress until I was two years into college at the age of twenty-one. Meditation was introduced to me on the first day of classes in the fall quarter of my junior year. Not so coincidentally, this was the same day that I discovered poetry. I could not begin to fathom, that warm September day, how much expansion, growth, and discovery were about to surround me.
Finding a Way to Live With Intention and Presence
Jean waltzed joyfully into the tiny brightly lit classroom, an easeful glide in his step, a fashionable chestnut-colored briefcase in his hand, and a sage-like smile across his face. He said nothing to introduce himself and began reading a poem. I remember thinking I had stumbled into the classroom of an exalted being. Not in the way a religious icon may be exalted, simply in the way that he knew something that I had not yet discovered.
Our first assignment in this class was to find a meditative practice, attend or participate in it once a week, and write immediately afterward. The idea was that through meditation one becomes more present, attuned to what is happening around and within them, and in turn, able to write more honestly and astutely-a simple concept, yet up until that point in my life, a semi-foreign one.
What I found, in addition to a love of poetry, was a way to slow down time, a way to escape anxiety, a way to pay attention. Meditation, like poetry, is meant for us not to find meaning in things outside of ourselves, but to allow us to explore our inner worlds. Here we find a greater understanding of ourselves and of the human condition-there will always be unanswered questions and unfettered musings. In connecting with ourselves, we become aware of all that we can connect with outside of ourselves. Presence goes from simply being somewhere to being so fully in one moment that there is nothing behind or in front of it. Here, we can note the sun hitting the tops of trees, the warmth of a conversation with a dear friend, the sound of a distant train, and the steady stream of steam exiting our coffee cups in the chill of the morning.
Professor Jean left us with a poem at the end of that quarter that still hangs on my wall today. It is called I Will Not Die An Unlived Life by Dawna Markova. It reads, “...I choose to inhabit my days,/to allow my living to open me,/ to make me less afraid,/ more accessible;/ to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise…” I love the idea of inhabiting our days, instead of simply going through them. Meditation and poetry are two things that make it possible for me to inhabit my days.
Here are some tips for finding ways that will allow you to show up for your life with more love, patience, and gratitude :
Find a meditative practice. It doesn’t have to be sitting cross-legged in silence and breathing deeply, it can be a morning walk, an afternoon stretch, or a creative outlet like painting or writing. Start by implementing it weekly and then a few times a week. Eventually, you can do it every day.
Take note of how this practice makes you feel. Are you less anxious, more energetic, and able to give more freely to those around you?
Give yourself grace. Maybe you develop a ritual, but you miss it one day. That is okay. Life happens.
Explore more. Read more, listen to more podcasts, and try new things. It is only through learning and absorbing more that we are able to find what it is that truly brings us joy in our everyday lives.
Keep a gratitude journal. Find three things every day that you are grateful for and write them down.
Millennials and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Studies show that millennials are the largest group of consumers today and that they are more likely to support brands with high levels of corporate social responsibility.
A recent study from the Neilson Global Corporate Sustainability Report shows that 73% of millennials are willing to pay more for sustainable brands and offerings. 1
Another study by Cone Communications found that 90% of millennials would switch to a brand with a cause. A study by Submittable found that 72% of consumers today expect brands to be positive contributors to society and 64% expect businesses to use their power and resources to help people. 2
The Power of The Corporation. Be a Positive Force.
This common interest in conscious consumerism and honest, fair business operations that has skyrocketed in the last few years makes a lot of sense when you look at our history, the rise of capitalism, the monopolization of power-house corporations, and the domination of said corporations in the global market.
We have reached a time in history where policy seems to be growing weaker and less efficient in making change, where the law gets stuck in the midst of political differences, and where corporations have taken a strong hold on economic and social life.
Consumers are aware of just how much power businesses have, and they are looking to these businesses to be the change that is so desperately needed, because, not to be grim, we are running out of options here.
We know that it is not a single human using plastic straws that is contributing the most to the massive plastic piles flowing into the ocean, but corporations. We know that the fashion industry is the second largest contributor to C02 emissions because of the use of plastics made from oil. We know that certain “certified organic”, and “sustainably sourced” labels have been used by companies as just another way to make sales. We know about sweatshops, outsourcing, the destruction of nature, and the careless use of non-renewable resources that have come from years of careless, and destructive business tactics. Let’s change the way we operate.
What Does That Mean for Businesses?
This means that people born between 1981-1996 are more likely to buy from a company that has a social mission or a business that takes corporate responsibility seriously. There are about 72 million millennials in the United States alone. Millennials make up about $1 trillion in the United States consumer spending and are the fastest-growing customer base, followed by Gen Z. 1 Ours is a generation who has lived through the up-rise of the B-Corp, the growth of the Fair Trade movement, and the general rising demand for transparency within corporations.
As a business owner, you should know that transparency and social impact are key players in your overall success. Your story matters. Your values and goals matter. People expect a lot from you. You have the power to MAKE A LASTING CHANGE in our economic and social lives. Show the world how your product, service, event, course, or idea can bring about positive change, empowerment, inclusivity, love, and light.
How to Stand Out to your Largest Consumer Base.
Engagement- Actively engage with your community and make real genuine connections. Change the way you interact with the environment, with your workforce, and with your customers by engaging with them. 2
Make use of social media and BLOGS. Most consumers read about 3-4 pieces of content put out by a company before making a purchase, signing up for an email list, volunteering, etc. Consumers want to know about your process, and about the people on your team. Share your honest story with them. Be transparent. Use these outlets to talk about your corporate social responsibility. What is it like to work at your organization? What is the culture? What are your goals and values? What good do you hope to contribute to the world?
Talk about experiences, not physical products. What meaningful, genuine experiences does your product, service, or organization provide for people? 2
Transparency- consumers want to know who the people are behind the veil, they want to know what type of people work for you, and they want to see diversity and collaboration. They want to know what goes into the production of your business.
Hire someone that knows how to make all of these things possible for you and tell your story. A copywriter is pivotal in this process of helping you become more engaged, more transparent, and experience-driven. They can write blogs, utilize social media, make your product speak to the people using it, and allow them to understand what it can do for them and for the world.
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