by Mizie Cheng

Created on: November 20, 2008

How do you define creativity to actually make a statement that it is a dying art? If creativity was defined as being like Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso, and the host of other artistic people, then, perhaps, yes, creativity is a slow dying art. If you define creativity by being the sorts of wonderful creators and inventors coming up with new gadgets and inventions every other day, then, perhaps, no, creativity is not a dying art.

However, if you define creativity by being able to open your mind to thinking out of the box, of not doing what is status quo as defined by social norms, then creativity is yours as an individual to decide whether it is a dying art.

Creativity can be expressed in a thousand - no, in a million, and even more - and one ways and in a whole host of variety of lifestyles and walks of life. A child can be creative. An elderly person can be creative. A housewife can be creative. The homeless man in the inner city of your residence can be creative. There are no limits to creativity!

A child carrying a piece of block one by one to his or her playroom decides to use a pail to carry all of his or her 20 blocks; now is that not counted as creativity? A housewife trying to cut the cost of household products due to inflation (!) decides to plant her own herb garden for her wonderful dishes; is that not creativity?

Creativity is expressed in everyday living: problem-solving. If we did not have creativity in problem-solving, we'd be helpless creatures flailing about, tossed in the wind by "fate". This brings us to the question of "why should creativity exist?" Most usually, it is triggered by a situation that demands a need, a void to be filled. We all, no one excluded, face problems, or situations that demand an answer. It is part and parcel of everyday life. We cannot live without solving problems, making decision, thinking through issues. Well, yes, we could live, but it would be a meaningless life. A meaningful life would demand that we use our brains to think, and thinking, therefore, demands creativity.

This is not to say that creativity is limited to the basic, mundane, and routine acts of everyday living. There is a place for being creative, AND, also a place for the creative arts, AND also a place for creative thinking, etcetera. Creativity cannot be contained in a box, to just an elite few. It is extended, it is available, it is free, for anyone. Everyone. It is not a dying art if we decide to think beyond our little box of a mind. The choice is ours.

Learn more about this author, Mizie Cheng.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.