The Art of Creativity

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I feel the need to post the fact that if you have previously viewed this article then you will notice that the images I had found on google to offer a humorous and uplifting view to my article have been removed. They were "NOT" removed due to the readers negative criticism, In fact he had made a good point and I felt that his view (while entirely un-researched and un-founded) still had merit. So if those images or the article has offended someone my apologies. As for the article it was composed entirely for the purpose to uplift and raise the spirits of you the reader.

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Call it what you want positive behavior, willingness to learn, or just talented individual. Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a person creative, and there are thousands of excuses why people see amazing works and think "I wish I could do that"!

Guess What? You can!

The other day while discuss colleges with my 13 year old daughter we were talking about the different fields of study. She is interested in M.I.T. and then commented that it would be great to be creative enough to attend a place that is famous for people who are great thinkers. It about broke my heart, As a father I want the best for my children, I want them to see themselves as great individuals, I am a firm believer you can do anything you put your mind to. 

My mother has said this as well all too many times I wish I could be creative enough to come up with original idea's or create a work that is all mine. She commonly comments she's too old to have that kind of mind.

STOP!!!

I can't say it enough, If you say you can't do something, then you've already "Failed"! You've let someone  somewhere throughout your life convince you there are just some things some people can't do. THAT'S BULL!!! There is nothing you can't do.

"OK, Rick, So you say there's nothing I can't accomplish, But I've tried some different  things and they never seem to come out like the pro's do it"

First things first: Be positive! If you can't do anything else in life at least try to remember your are your own person, you have a life that is individually different from anyone else's. 

There are so many negative influences around you in everyday life. Negative behavior destroys creativity! "Well I'm not skilled enough, I just don't have that in me, I'm not good at anything", Remove these phrases from you vocabulary the second you allow these types of thoughts into your head they win!

Choose to be positive, remember there are going to be negative people everywhere you go and if you choose to not let them infect you with the failures then you can build, design, and create!

"Yeah, I can tell "MYSELF" to be positive but the people around me might not think the same"?

Just lose the habit of letting others control you. Think about it, you go to work or school everyday and there's that one person who is just so miserable to be around that they just ruin your day. That person may do or say something that makes you feel like there nothing positive about this whole situation.

HEY! They do that on purpose, they know it effects you, they see you get upset and they take joy in the fact that they can make you act a certain way. Don't be someone's puppet on a string, cut those strings, and walk free. "How?" Self control, every time that person tries it with you stop yourself and think in head don't show this person any emotion at all, just tell them OK to whatever they tell you to do. It will change your whole outlook the rest of the day, OK sounds easy right, WRONG! Once this person see they haven't taken control of you it's like a slap in the face, they will try to adjust their approach and go after you a different way. Eventually without any satisfaction they will eventually give up. You may not like the task they lay on you and maybe it's not really your job to do, guess what? Do it your way, they may not like it but you have done what they told you. It's not easy, and it's tough to face up to but you can push through!

"All that's fine and good, but what's this got to do with being Creative"?

The first two steps are all about breaking the bad habits of saying "I Can't", Once you can do this everything else is creativity. While your sitting here reading this you may be thinking to yourself "I can try that", you just did something creative. OK it's a small accomplishment but imagine what you can achieve tomorrow. Imagination is a great tool for being creative, remember those days when you tied a towel around you neck and ran around the house dreaming of flying like Superman, or tried on big people clothes and acted like an adult? You still have it in you to dream, right now there is an instructable you would love to try but you are thinking "what if it doesn't work"? That's really the worst that can happen, it just means you have to go back and keep trying or simply move on to something else. You can always come back and try again, nobody's perfect the first time out, but here's the fun part "WHAT IF" you are?

The first time I tried airbrushing I went to the library (for you teens that's a big building with instructables that were on paper) and got a book on how. The first several times were a disaster even too cartoon-ish to even tell what they were. I bought a dual action airbrush but the book never mentioned techniques on pressure, control, drag, or even about thinning paint. But I really wanted to learn how to do this by myself. Needless to say after years of reading, practicing, and failing I've manage to  build a skill that is passable. And that the best part about being creative trying and failing, "WHAT"? Yes you try over and over at something and think "I'm never going to get this" and then it happens and you get a charge. Experience may not be the nicest teacher but it is the best?

"Well I'm changing habit's, trying new things, but it seems like I don't have an eye for something, Now What?

Ask yourself how do you see the world, while your sitting here reading this, do you realize the creative juices are already flowing there are already idea's floating around up there. That the trick in itself, making those idea's a reality. Simple questions are the steps to being creative.

I once had a science fair as a kid and they brought in this inventor who asked "What's the key to inventing"? His answer was can you think of something that "YOU" think the world would use. Great concept, What can I do that takes this idea out of my head? What tools could I use? What materials do I need? All of these questions hinge on what will someone else think about my work, right? Again WRONG, Who cares what someone else will say about your project, while it's nice to get recognition for something but it's not necessary the first time out. In fact sometime the criticism from someone might make you give up on something that might turn out to be the greatest creation of your life. Their perspective may also be skewed by the fact they are afraid to try something like that.

Sometimes it's just half admiration for someone else's work, and the questions how can I do that and how can I improve on it? Now ask yourself what can I do that's similar, what can I do that someone might like or maybe they could use? It's through this type of self questioning that original idea's are born, the culmination of your dreams and real world practical application are where the best of your creativity resides.

"That's a lot to take in, so is there anything that will help get me started"?

YES, there are so many things to do now, get up, go out, and see with new eyes the world around you. Eventually you will start to see projects everywhere. You will imagine beautiful works in the simplest of things. Don't get too caught up on making things perfect, perfect things in a perfect world suck the big one, anyone who tells you otherwise probably has OCD.

Hey I'm not rich by any means and some projects just cost money regardless of how to make them work. Like everything else in life it takes time to cultivate idea's and make the money to act on them. Borrow a tools if you can't buy one, make friends with those who have the tools, share the idea with someone who can make it a reality. Use less than lackluster tools if necessary. I just love those idiots who say  you can do that quality of work with a harbor freight tool only craftsman will work. Sometimes the cheap tools make it a little harder to do the job but it can be done. Half or more of all my airbrush projects were done with a $20 airbrush from Harbor Freight, I started out with a nice Devilbiss and I lost a critical very small piece the pretty much made the airbrush useless, having very little money pushed me to buy the cheapie and it took a long time to get used too, but I finished the project and moved on and I've used it for years now. Recently I bought a Paasche but just to have a nicer second brush. If you can afford it get the high end tools but just don't count out the cheap ones as useless.

Remember it's not the tool that makes creativity it's the person...

As a member of instructables I think I can't thank you enough for providing a place to for us to learn and grow.

While the inspiration for this instructable was my mother and my daughter I have to send a thanks out to Stephen Covey and his book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".

Before you get the wrong idea, I hate the self help crap that's out there, if half or more of them are a scam, it wouldn't surprise me, However years ago a CEO of a company I worked for pulled me to the side and mention this book to help me adjust to moving from a factory floor labor job to an office position. I took his advice with real skepticism, and found after reading and applying just one of the 7 habits it really had a profound change to my work so I tried more and then started applying these habits to everyday life situations, it had such a life changing effect that most people who knew me prior are stunned at the massive change in my attitude towards life. I'm not a part of his group and never attended any siminars he's held, I simply read a book, and the fact that it's pretty much an instructable on how to change your life forever I just thought it should be mentioned.