Creative

Creativity: The Constant Invitation

By Michelle James | Posted 8/7/06 | Updated 5/13/23

Creativity is not just the domain of those in the arts — it's there for everyone all the time. As much as we have been trained, educated and socialized out of our natural creativity, it still knocks on our door every moment of every day, beckoning our engagement.

To deny creativity's invitation is to deny the full expression of our humanness. We can heed its call or go back to life as usual, apologizing for any bit of creativity that might seep out in between the serious business of life. But what if it is the lack of valuing — and nurturing — creativity that made the business of life so serious in the first place?

Creativity makes the impossible possible by creating a window, the threshold, the pathway into what is possible and what is next. It transforms perceived limitations into surprising opportunities. It frees us from our current realities and insists on new choices and multiples options.

Creativity doesn't pick favorites. It doesn't leave anyone out on the sidelines. It gives unconditional regard, and the constant invitation to play… to all. It doesn't care about job title, educational level, socioeconomic status, religious belief or cultural background. It is there, in infinite availability, for all to indulge.

Creativity is the thread that connects the previously disconnected: the bond that unifies that which is divided. Creativity is what brings concepts to life. It makes the internal external, the imagined real, and the dreamed actualized. It bridges and transcends worlds. It solves problems, expands possibilities, heightens awareness, and animates life. Creativity is giving, nurturing, generative and expansive. It moves us towards more freedom. It's a diplomat, healer, communicator, and sage.

There is so much life within us, yearning to bubble up in the surface. Creativity is the great animator. It infuses our current structures and systems and allows new forms to emerge. Creativity is always there, waiting, ready to be harnessed, utilized, cultivated and expressed to bring us to life. Along with love, creativity is at the core essence of being human.

We live in a creative universe on a creative planet and it is literally impossible not to create… all the time. There is not a person alive who is not already creative, and if given the space and opportunity, they will come to it and know that of themselves.

Michelle James, CEO of the Center for Creative Emergence, is a creativity catalyst, consultant and coach to individuals and organizations. …