Why Creativity Matters

  • Creativity is something that we all do — not just professionals, experts or virtuosos. We can all participate.
  • Perception and awareness are as creative as making and publishing.
  • The creative process is as important as any product that might result.
  • Creativity enriches our own lives, and the lives of those around us, in essential and necessary ways.
  • Through creativity, and the cultivation of ideas, we grow the world in which we live.

Creativity is not merely an occasional activity — something we do in those early morning hours we’ve dedicated to writing, or when we stand before a canvas with a brush in hand, or when we try to explore the vast and uncharted regions of our minds during a brainstorming session.

It is an attitude that can infuse every waking — and sleeping — moment in our lives, and inflect our every action. It is not something that is separate from or takes place in the context of  “real life.”  It is real life.  And it is a critical ingredient of a meaningful life.

Whether you are a seasoned artist with a lifetime of work and effort to show for it, or just wondering what it would mean to explore your creative potential, I hope you’ll find this site interesting and inspiring. And I hope you’ll participate, so that we can all learn from each other.

How to Participate

  • Give feedback. Send me an email or add a comment to a post.
  • Share what you like. You can use the ‘ShareThis’ feature at the bottom of each page to save articles to your favorite social media sites, or send them to others through email.
  • Let’s work together. I provide coaching and consulting services to individuals, small groups, businesses and creative projects. Find out more.

The Elements of a Creative Life

In my writing and coaching, I explore these six elements of a creative life:

  • Perception: Our skills of perception and awareness of our senses
  • Volition: The intention to maintain a creative approach through challenges — and successes
  • Process: The tools and techniques that we use to work within our own life cycle of ideas
  • Meaning: The role of culture and beauty in living a meaningful life
  • Collaboration: The ways we contribute our unique points of view while working with others towards common goals
  • Sharing: Presenting our ideas and participating in the global cultural conversation

There is no single ideal of a creative life. What feels dynamic and generative and inspirational for me, might drive you mad, and vice versa. We can discover what works for each of us by exploring and experimenting with various combinations of these elements.