Desperately Seeking Creativity
Creativity - where are you?
I would usually describe myself as a ‘creative’ person. But, currently, I am feeling somewhat stuck, somewhat lacking in ideas. So, it got my thinking - where does creativity come from?
Looking back to when I started out as a language teacher, I spent a lot of time writing lesson plans, devising and running activities, seeing some do well, others fail.
Initially, I taught lessons by following the textbook verbatim. Later, I read blogs and borrowed ideas. Eventually, I could come up with tasks, very quickly, appropriate to the audience and their level, with very little effort. Something had changed.
And it was at this time that I really felt creative: kind of knowing the rules, but not strictly following them. But always drawing on my knowledge and experience to perfectly meet my learners’ needs. That activity, that lesson, would be entirely new, while the feeling of delivering something never done before, would be thrilling.
So, if I truly reflect, those moments of being blocked or stuck, are probably completely normal. In fact, they may be the pre-cursor to innovation. Because when we want to progress, we are inspired to take risks: participate in new experiences, think differently, get things right, and wrong.
Indeed, it is when we build up and connect the old, we free ourselves to create the new.
Well, that’s my theory, anyway!
What do you think? Where does your creativity come from? Comment below.
All theories welcome. ;)