The Creative Revolution
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning and welcome back to another Thursday update! This week I wanted to talk a little about creativity.
This might end up being a mini-series, I’m not sure yet.
See, I started reading this book called Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelley, two brothers who have spent their entire lives dedicated to helping people live more creatively.
Today, I wanted to share a few quotes from their book and talk about them.
Before we dive into those, however, I wanted to preface the purpose of their book. Creativity is not something reserved for the arts. We’re not talking about painters, writers, and photographers. This is for all people whether you work in finance, engineering, teaching, sports, or whatever.
Creative thinking is something that has been deprived of children in the school curriculum, at least in my experience growing up. These two brothers have made it their life goal to teach people to think more creatively so that they can find intrinsic value and fulfillment in the work they do.
Anyways, here are a few quotes I thought were really impactful:
“At its core, creative confidence is about believing in your ability to create change in the world around you.”
“An Adobe Systems poll of five thousand people on three continents reports that 80 percent of people see unlocking creative potential as key to economic growth. Yet only 25 percent of these individuals feel that they’re living up to their creative potential in their own lives and careers.”
“In our experience, everybody is the creative type.”
“There’s no word in the Tibetan language for “creativity” or “being creative.” The closest translation is “natural.” In other words, if you want to be more creative, you just have to be more natural.”
I’ve really enjoyed the book so far, and it’s been very inspirational!
It reminds me that we, as humans, are created in God’s image. God created the whole universe; every single intricate detail of how the human body works, the many distinct animals and plants there are, and the beauty of mountains and oceans. All those things we stand in awe of, He created. And then He created us in His image.
I feel like that means He created us with the special ability to create and imagine. I could be wrong, but as far as I know, we are the only species that can truly create using imagination, and I think that’s so special!
However, there are some sad stats in those quotes too. There are so many people that want to be creative, but don’t feel like they are or they lack the confidence to do it.
I read another article the other day that coined an interesting term. I don’t know if it will stick, but I liked it. Before I reveal the term, a little background on this article.
The author was talking about how in this day post-covid, with the continual rise of gig economies, we are shifting as a culture. Covid really taught a lot of people value of life, family, and God over work. It has also taught us (logistically) that we can work remote.
Thus the author argues that we are transitioning out of this overworked culture due to the industrial revolution, and entering a new age: the Creative Revolution.
I think I like that term.
A time where people don’t have to be forced in a job they hate just to make ends meet. A time where people can pursue whatever passion they have. A world where you don’t need a college degree to get the job you want. A world where if you want to paint and make a living, you totally can. A world inundated with creativity, people thinking out of the box, innovating grandiose ideas left and right.
Maybe I’m a dreamer.
I can see it, though. The gig/passion economy has been on the rise for years. More people than ever make money online, and the whole push behind web3 is just going to unlock more of that.
I’ll leave you with that thought today: The Creative Revolution.
We can talk more about it next week!