ACHIEVING MY POTENTIAL BY LAIN ROURKE
What is creativity? Where does it come from? Does anyone and everyone have it? In my opinion, each an every one of us are blessed with extraordinary creativity, but it is unlearned through the flawed education system and the pressures of ‘growing up’. However, it can be regained through an adjustment in one’s mindset and a commitment to the lifestyle. Once this skill is reacquired, it can change the way one sees the world, while improving his or her purpose in almost every portion of life. Creativity is all around us; it is just a matter of realizing that it is.
With that being said, the more time I spend studying creativity, the more I see it in my everyday life. Before taking this class, I would think of creativity in the traditional sense of painting, drawing and making music. However, I have realized that is far more than just that; in fact, it can be applied to nearly every asset of life. For example, even in social interactions I see my practices in creativity having a great impact. Silencing your voice of judgment is one of the most effective ways in unleashing your creativity. When I silence my voice of judgment in even a simple altercation, it allows me to be myself and exude more confidence. Since it is not a traditional expression of creativity, it is certainly part of the process of improvement.
Growing up, I feel that my family and I have always been a creative of group of people. Both of my parents are architects/artists, my older brother is a filmmaker and my younger brother is a musician. Needless to say, I was constantly surrounded by creative people. While I did engage in certain expressions of creativity like playing multiple instruments, drawing and editing, I feel that I am not living up to the potential that I possess. In order to improve this, I have being working on changing my mindset entirely. Creativity is not just a skill, but also a way of life. Every aspect of my life should change in a positive way if this process is done correctly. I have even started meditating, in hopes of gaining a higher level of consciousness. Part of our lesson this year involved learning about clairvoyance and different forms of ‘truly’ paying attention to your various senses. This has helped me to slow down and really pay attention to my thought, what is important and life and an all around improved perspective.
This process has lead to a number of innovations that I otherwise probably would not have had. For example, my friend from home and I are starting a company that we hope to really spend some time on this summer. Since we are starting from scratch, every day we are working to find new ideas that will separate our business from the rest. It is tough work and we often hit several plateaus. However, using some of the tools that we have learned in 351, we have worked through the tough times and continue to push. We use the D4 experience constantly, which helps us to organize our thought while focusing on our main goals.
Ultimately, working on and improving my creative abilities has been a humbling, eye opening and difficult process, but I have learned so much about both my abilities and myself. As Andy Hobsawm once said, “Great creativity is astonishingly, absurdly, rationally, irrationally powerful”. If I continue to engage in this process of constantly improving my creativity, I believe I will become a better person, and have a greater impact on the world.
