Why Creativity is Your Unique Capital.
Your creativity is part of your personal DNA, the melting pot of all your mind, body, and soul experience that is so uniquely you, that no one can do the same.
Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, philosopher, and public intellectual. Wikipedia. Bourdieu talked about how the capital we each have with us in our "rucksack", decides what kind of life we are set out for.
The 3 main capitals are:
Social capital.
Social capital refers to the social relations and networks you have in your life. The resources and the quality of those resources. And the impact of those human resources.
Economic capital.
Your economic capital is about your money, finances, and assets. Material Goods. That kind of stuff.
Cultural capital.
Your cultural capital is your level of education, your intellect, your style of speech, and how you dress. Your manners and skills.
This is a very quick and short explanation. If you want to learn more and dig a little into Bourdieu's theories, just google him. It's interesting stuff. Basically, we each have this "baggage" we carry around, based on how and where we grew up. It's things like the social status of our parents, the area we grew up in, and so on.
This "baggage" plays a big role in how well we do in school, and later in life.
But I think there's a capital that is way more important than social, economic, and cultural capital And that is creative capital.
Creativity is your unique capital.
Imagine if we, in our education systems, focused on finding each child’s creative capital. Each child's fantasy. Imagine if we spend as much time investigating what it is each child has inside of interests and passions, as we do on maths and spelling. If our mission in life is to investigate and try out ways to express ourselves creatively. Imagine!
My theory is, that it wouldn't matter then what social status you come from. How much economic capital you have in your rucksack.
We would not look at the color, status, background, sexuality, our parents' income, and other things which we have no control over. But are still being judged by. If the focus is on our creative capital, then there can be no comparison. There can be no "us and them" because creativity is personal. In creativity, there is no right or wrong.
There are mistakes in applying the creative act. Failing many times is an essential part of applying your creative thinking into action. But that is different from doing something wrong. In creativity, you almost cannot do something wrong. Unless you harm someone.
“ There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. ”
— Edward de Bono.
How to find your creative capital?
You find your creative capital by expressing yourself creatively. There is no magic formula. This is why I believe it would so good if we could start experimenting with our creative side as young as possible.
My advice to you is to experiment with different kinds of creative work. Have you always been interested in books and writing? Then try writing a really short story.
As Steven Pressfield says: “Put your ass where your heart wants to be.”
You may have to be still to discover that tiny voice or feeling inside that guides you in a direction. The business of daily life so easily takes over our mind and soul, so being still is a good way to start to figure out how to express yourself creatively.
Ask yourself some questions: what do you love? What pisses you off in life? If you could do anything, what would you do? How would you express these feelings? What would you do about it? What colors are your feelings?
Be curious about who you are. Make it your mission not to be like everyone else.
Write, doodle, paint, sculpt, walk, talk, film, play.
Fail. Laugh. Try. Fail. Laugh. Try. Fail. Laugh. Try.
Be curious. Who are you? Why?
Your creative capital is what you are here for. It's what makes you who you are. I believe this completely. There IS no comparison. There can't be. We are not meant to be the same, we never can be.
We share many things of course. Overall, we are all part of each other, the same human race, with the set of feelings, the same need for belonging, love, and kindness. And so much more.
It starts with you and me. We have a responsibility to the limitations of our thoughts. We must challenge "what we know to be true". Cause maybe we don't know.
It’s not about getting the perfect job or the right education or going for manager jobs. It's simply about using your fantasy and expressing yourself creatively.
Simple, but not easy. But OH MY G so worth it. We must do it. You and I.
What next?
If you want help in finding and using your creative capital, check out my creativity coaching. And you can email me for details here.