Some people think, “Well, I’ll never be able to think creatively!” There’s a misconception that just because you don’t have a natural aptitude towards creative thinking, you don’t have it in you.

Think creatively.

But almost everyone does. The ability to think creatively is one of the essential traits that set us apart from animals. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors survived being eaten by sabre-tooth tigers by being creative.

Firstly, they realised fire was a powerful force and they learnt how to harness it creatively: using simple torches wrapped in animal skin, they utilised fire to keep predators away when they slept at night.

But perhaps the simplest example of creative thinking is the spear. By taking a sharp rock and binding it with twine to a long stick, humans were able to create both a weapon and a hunting tool.

What creativity is essentially.

Creativity is combining two (or more) different things in a new and interesting way. For instance, you take a horn and then you take a horse. What do you get? A magical unicorn! Out of two simple ideas comes one complex idea.

Creativity is simply thinking about things in new and fresh ways.

Application.

When authors create vivid stories of worlds undreamed, like Middle-Earth in the popular book trilogy Lord of the Rings, they are using this simple trick. They are taking aspects of the real world and melding them in new and fresh ways. Creating a new land in a fantasy story is as simple as reshaping real land as if it were a soft clay. Raising mountains, bringing in lakes and seas, and planting forests in the mind.

How to express your creativity.

We often discuss the importance of creativity in a person’s life. The health benefits include stress relief and relief from the blues. So it’s vital to make creativity part of your routine.

Ways of expressing it include painting, sketching, writing, and modelling clay. Stuck for ideas? Then look for inspiration outside the window or from the front porch. There’s so much that can help you think creatively.

Here’s a novel idea: go to a pet store and buy a bird feeder! If you live in a leafy area, chances are, there are all sorts of birds living there, including some interesting species. A bird feeder will attract them, and you can sketch them from eye.

How to do an imaginative picture.

Or perhaps you’d rather do a picture of a person? You don’t even need a model. Some of our PNAs stock wooden model puppets you can pose how you wish. Then it’s as simple as sketching a person using the model as a reference, before adding in key features yourself.

Taking the principle, we outlined at the beginning of this article, you can simply mesh different ideas together for your picture. Is the person you’re drawing in your home? In the living room having tea? Or are they in the garden? Perhaps you can open up a travel book and find a nice picture of a beach. They could be taking in the sun.

The point being, when you think creatively, you don’t have to be stuck drawing or painting what’s immediately in front of you. You can transport the subject of your picture to another time and space.

However, you decide to express your creativity, keep in mind that your happy place, PNA, has everything you need to create the perfect piece of art!

You could even write a poem!

And remember, you’re only limited by your imagination! In fact, if you’re looking for inspiration, we’ve found a resource for you here.

So, there’s no limit at all when you think creatively.