Your creativity is dying without you noticing

“Everybody is creative”

This is a sentence I’ve struggled a lot with in the past. Sometimes it’s a heavy YES and sometimes it’s a clear No. Especially cause I never thought of myself as a creative person.

But now I have my final answer:

Everybody is born creative. But most people lose their creativity by the time they reach their 20s. Followed by a dull life full of routines, stagnancy, and non-authentic expression.

So the big question is now - why is that? How are we born creative? And why do we lose it? buckle up because it’s about to get bumpy…

The natural state of a human is creative. Different people are born with different interests and different ways of doing things.

The question is not - are you creative or not, the question is: HOW are you creative.

Everybody was born creative. Our job is to find out how we are creative:

Some people are creative with music, art, singing, writing, painting, etc…But that’s not the only way you can be creative - some people are creative with numbers, some find creative solutions in construction work, and some are creative with climbing trees or cooking.

It can be anything - because creativity is not bound to the activity you’re doing. Creativity means finding UNIQUE ways of expression—no matter in which activity. And everybody has this ability, cause each one of us has a unique ability.

Creativity is the birthplace of innovation. Without creativity, there’s no advancement in society. Since humans existed we’ve always been creative, it’s just that people are creative in different ways.

And the big problem…:

School doesn’t emphasize finding out HOW somebody is creative. Everybody gets the same puzzles to solve. I’m sure you’ve seen this picture:

It’s unfair. How can you expect everybody to solve the same puzzle if we all have different ways to be creative?

That’s what’s wrong with our system. It’s outdated. It aims at producing people who can keep the human machine rolling - we want to make everybody the same and that’s not how the human species works.

But it’s not only the system’s fault. It’s also your fault your creativity is dying. The poem Bluebird by Charles Bukowski illustrates this best:

He talks about the “bluebird” in his heart that wants to get out but he doesn’t let it. It’s too chaotic, spontaneous, and emotional. It’s free and expressive but he wants to function in the world, so he surpresses it. Here’s the poem, but when you read it, just know - the bluebird is your creativity:

there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out,
but I'm too tough for him.
I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you.

there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out.
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke,
and the whores and the bartenders and the grocery clerks
never know that he's in there.

there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out
but I'm too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess me up?
you want to screw up the works?
you want to blow my book sales in Europe?

there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out
but I'm too clever, I only let him out at night sometimes
when everybody's asleep.

I say, I know that you're there, so don't be sad.
then I put him back,
but he's singing a little
in there, I haven't quite let him die

and we sleep together like that with our secret pact
and it's nice enough to make a man weep, but I don't weep, do you?

There are many ways to interpret this poem, but I always found it to be a great analogy for creativity.

Creativity is a natural force living inside of you wanting to express itself. But we spend most of our time trying to push it down:

We push down our dreams, ambitions, feelings, thoughts, and spontaneous outbursts - all for the sake of adhering to the norms of society.

But if we’d listen, we’d feel the constant pull of creativity.

What are the books you wanted to buy? Who are the people that inspire you? What thing have you always wanted to create? What idea did you have you didn’t follow through with?

Ideas, interest, inspiration - these are forces that come to you. You didn’t choose them. They were brought to you. Your job is to listen to them. Because if you don’t they will haunt you. The haunting will lead to more suppression and distraction (in the poem above described as “I pour whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke”.)

It’s kinda sad to realize but it’s true. Your creativity comes to you. It wants to sing - but you push it down.

But be careful because:

The more you push down your inner bluebird the less it will sing. Until one day it will die. One day your creativity is gone.

You will be just another part of the endless-running society machine. Not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, living a dull, boring and depressing existence.

Just look around - we see it everywhere: Go out to the city and look at people’s faces. You can see that most let their inner bluebird die. Don’t let this be you.

Your creativity is singing. Listen.

With love,

Heythem

P.S.: I was part of an amazing autumn shoot recently - here are some impressions (plus some wisdom from the forest for you hehe)

heythemnaji

View more on Instagram

My caption under this post:

“This year I had the best autumn of my life. Not because this autumn was extra special, it's just that I opened my eyes for the first time.

I opened my heart toward seeing the beauty that was there all along waiting for me to experience.

Everything we need in life we find in the forest.

- The coloured trees represent the beauty in change.
- The fallen leafs represent the death as part of life.
- The mushrooms represent recycling and rebirth.
- The roots represent safety and stability.

The forest lives in complete harmony with the natural cycles. The more we live like the forest the healthier we'll be.

Thank you @lebenskunst_photography. The pictures are beyond great, but what's even more important: The care and love you show is outworldly.

And thank you @neeltje_living_nature for this forest bathing experience. You're an amazing facilitator and I felt comfortable under your guidance.

With love,

Heythem