On Creativity

On Creativity...

I think people should find magic in the work they do everyday.  If they can’t find something even slightly wonderful or miraculous or exciting in their job, they need to re-evaluate what they are doing and what they consider important.  Having a chronic condition makes you appreciate very small things – gives you the excuse to spend the time a child would in exploring the world around you, even if that only extends to the four walls of your room and the view from your window.  If you can’t get up and go out, let your imagination go the distance. 

Being creative, whether that be actually creating something (cakes, paintings, writing, music, costume) or just trying something new (giving interesting, individual feedback to students’ work, taking a new path to the office, leaving a doodle on a friend’s notepad) doesn’t have to be difficult or even very original, but it is sourced from the other side of the brain to the one that is used for calculating, decision making, ‘rational thought’, and EVERYONE should do something creative everyday.

Since I am on a creative university course, at a university that only does art-related, creative courses, I am very lucky to be able to say that I get to be creative for the majority of everyday.  When I became ill in 2002, the only part of my brain that functioned properly was the right side, the creative, irrational, impulsive side.  Now, I have quite a bit of my left-side working again, though by no means all of it, and I have very little short-term memory, which makes things...interesting, but it is the right side of my brain that is feeding my career path. Where I will end up, I still don’t know, but I have dreams...