There are two kinds of people in the world: those who are creative, and those who believe the lie that they’re not.
The idea that creativity belongs only to a select, gifted few—while everyone else is left to languish—is a complete myth. Everyone has the capacity to be creative. Unfortunately, for many people, that capacity was stifled at a young age. Even more unfortunate is when it is never reclaimed.
In truth, creativity is never truly lost—only neglected. Abandoned in favor of the belief that it never existed to begin with.
Creativity Atrophies—but It Never Disappears
Creativity, like a muscle, will atrophy when underused. It must be exercised.
The good news is that it can never atrophy into extinction. The flame of creativity can always be rekindled. That process may require effort—sometimes difficult effort—much like physical therapy is required to restore strength after injury. Severely malnourished creativity may need intensive care, patience, and persistence.
The first obstacles to overcome are false beliefs: inability, skepticism, and doubt. To be creative is a choice. It is a purposeful and conscious shift in mindset.
Here’s how to begin.
1. Accept That You Are Creative
Creativity is part of our divine endowment as humans. You have this capacity, just like everyone else.
Believing this may require redefining your self-image. To change your beliefs about creativity, you must stop telling yourself that you are not creative. Abolish the negative internal dialogue that says I can’t or I’m not that kind of person.
You can create.
You are creative.
2. Develop Skills
Creativity has nothing to do with drawing ability.
People are not creative because they draw; they draw because they love the creative process. While drawing skills are not a prerequisite for creativity, skill development of some kind is essential. Skill—the ability to do something well—is one of the raw materials of creativity.
Importantly, the ability to develop skills is itself a skill. And once you’ve done it once, you can do it again.
Even musical prodigies like Mozart were not magically creating from nothing. They mastered the fundamentals early. Creativity does not emerge ex nihilo—it grows from learning, practice, and experimentation.
3. Learn to Make Connections
Creativity is not only physical—it is mental.
The ability to make connections between ideas, people, or experiences must also be exercised. In Creative Confidence, Tom and David Kelley describe empathy as a crucial creative skill—the ability to relate to and understand others.
Jacob Bronowski, in The Creative Mind, describes creativity as the discovery of hidden likenesses between seemingly unrelated things. This is the same mechanism at work in metaphor, poetry, and storytelling.
He also describes the unique relationship between creator and observer: meaning deepens when the observer rediscovers for themselves what the creator has revealed.
4. Produce
Make production a greater passion than consumption.
Use your skills. Use your ability to make connections. Produce something—anything. It doesn’t even have to be physical.
Production is where creativity begins to enrich life. And as Bronowski points out, meaning multiplies when both the creator and the observer benefit from the result.
Art, music, poetry, literature, relationships, meals—everything meaningful must first be created before it can be enjoyed.
Reclaiming What Was Always Yours
Once you stop believing the lie that you are not creative—especially if that belief was rooted in a lack of drawing skills—you are empowered to use creativity to enrich your life.
Chances are, you already have skills.
You can make connections.
You can produce.
You are creative—even if you can’t draw.
What will you create today?
What you say about being creative is very true and will be of great help to me as I sew and crochet. I am very critical of my work and feel that no one will want to wear what I have made. In the future I will take a different veiw off what i make or do.