This month we’ve been thinking about the power of creativity. We’ve considered how being creative can unlock new languages that allow us to be self-expressive. We’ve considered all the many ways creativity can help us to flourish and aid our wellbeing. We’ve thought about how being creative draws others in, giving the opportunity to form relationships and work together.
In this blog, I’d like to focus on the cheeky and slightly rebellious side of creativity - that it allows us to break with the norm.
I have a soft spot for creatives who break the rules. Whether it’s the breakthrough of Punk music, the wild and wonderful creations of Pop-Art, the imaginative sculptures of Tracey Emin or even the beautiful skills of George Best. These movements and people changed cultures and perceptions through their ground-breaking work - they observed that society had created structures and rules and broke them, in order to show us a different way of viewing the world.
Creativity has this sort of power.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will get you everywhere.”
We have talked often on this website about the importance of changing cultures in order to change the wellbeing of individuals. Our next Creating Cultures of Wellbeing event will explore that further (its free, do come along).
Culture is often described as “the way we do things round here.” It’s all those norms which exist and develop about the way we work, the way we run our home, the way life happens. Often those norms are fine but sometimes they get in the way of flourishing.
Sometimes they say we can’t speak up (only 3 in 10 UK workers feel their opinion matters, Google.)
Sometimes they can say things can’t be changed, that this is the way life is.
Sometimes they tell us that looking after ourselves isn’t profitable or right, that we must give more, work even harder etc. They make us keep going on the endless treadmill of deadlines and pressure.
One way to break these norms and rules is to use creativity.
The moment you pick up a paint brush or start to draw you realise art and creativity don’t have the same rules. We can express ourselves. We can change colours, make new shapes, express things in new ways. Interesting, this freedom isn’t without a point or purpose. Using this freedom in creativity allows us to see things differently. It allowed Picasso to see humanity in a fresh light. It allowed Maya Angelou to champion equality and challenge racial injustice with new voices and reach new audiences.
“Creativity is experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun”
Mary-Lou Cook
One of our inspirations is Candy Chang and her art initiative ‘Before I die I want to…”
This simple yet profound experiment creates giant chalkboards in cities, in parks, in neighbourhoods and allows people to share their dreams and hopes outlaid and together. The results have often been transformative, bringing people together and giving them permission to share their dreams. Think about it, how would you answer that question? What would you think if you could see the hundreds of ways others have shared this to?
Artists like Candy Chang have let us into a secret. Creativity can open up new doors for us.
Think about these three creative ideas where you are:
a) If you have a problem that seems insurmountable, why not tackle it differently? Get out a large piece of paper and some paints. Get everyone to express their ideas in images and pictures. See what happens.
b) Struggling for the language to express your idea or concept? Take the words you’ve normally used and print them out on paper and put them infront of your team. They ask everyone to start being creative, thinking of alternatives. What metaphors describe this word? What poetic or creative language comes to mind?
c) Wanting to share your companies ethos or values? Why not create a story, poem or series of images that do the same job? What is a metaphor for your organisation? What story might share the important things about what you do?
There are countless other ways to allow creativity to break conformity and introduce us to new things. We’d love to hear from you if you have ideas that you use.
Most of all, we think this approach is vital in wellbeing. Why not check out the other blogs in this month’s series and come up with a couple of personal creative challenges for yourself. Maybe learn to paint, start writing music or grab a notebook and share how you feel in poetry. It’ll amaze you how new ideas and possibilities emerge.