What is Creativity?

PART I—INTRO
Its definition and all ideas about creativity can be found just about anywhere these days, including books, magazines, and all throughout the web. Until 1998 it was a concept that took up very little space in my conscious mind. At that time, I was all things logical...I was a web analyst and software engineer...a computer geek.

So what changed all that? It was being the highest bidder at a silent auction for a facial gift certificate in the summer of 1998. Actually, it was because of Jill (alias name), who did the facial. As she was doing the facial she let me know that she does reiki. This was new stuff to me. She explained that it’s like a massage but without physically touching. She massages the energy fields around the body, which for some can be healing. What is Reiki?

It sounded interesting so I made an appointment. At the very least, for me, it was a relaxing and soothing event. By the time she was done I was calm and serene; for that, it was worth the price of admission. The kicker was when she came around the table to face me while I was still sitting on the table. She looked me right in the eyes and said, “when you leave here, you’re to go directly to the book store and buy a coloring book and some crayons. You’re not using your creative side.” She so stunned me with her forwardness that I knew my only option was to do just that.

To make a long story short, I bought the coloring book and crayons. I discovered that I needed to be able to color in more details so I switched to colored pencils. The coloring books were cute but I wanted something a little more grown up. In a new age book store I discovered some mandala coloring books. Now we’re talking. I loved the patterns and symmetry. I soon became bored with the designs; I wanted to create my own. It was then (early 1999) that my husband and I went to Egypt. That’s where I became ‘activated’ (for lack of a better term). It was there where I found the inspiration for many of my mandala designs. When we returned home, I bought a sketch book and just drew and drew, one mandala after another.

Now let’s jump ahead to the last few months (November 2007-January 2008). Over the last 7 yearsor so , I created over 65 official designs and colored/painted almost 80 mandalas (some designs I colored/painted more than once). During the summer of 2006 I started playing with “happenings” (paintings using ink, plant vegetation, paper and water). In the fall of 2007, I created and colored 31 asymmetrical mandalas, free-form doodles/designs. Due to the demand, I had also made my designs available of others to color; in coloring books, prints and greeting cards.

Through all of this I was avoiding one thing. The time had come to take the business side of my art more seriously. I needed a business plan. What was my mission for my art? Why was I doing all this? What did I want to do with my art?

First thing I needed was a mission statement. Using a process I found in a book, it came to me. My mission is to explore, promote and inspire creativity. I discovered that my art was more than just me being creative, it was about helping and inspiring others to tap into their own creativity.

Now that I had my mission statement, I needed to know, "what is creativity?”


Part II: The Answer (tomorrow)