Never Make the Mistake of Thinking You Lack Creativity

A few years ago, one of my readers, Meshack Vallesillas, helped me to see that for many decades, I had been underselling my own skills. Perhaps I can now perform the same service for you.

Meshack sent me a link to an article he had written. Describing his own struggles to be creative, he said, “(I finally) understood that anything you might consider ‘art’ is made up of two parts; creativity and craft. The craft is the artistic skill to make the art, while creativity is the spark of life or the ingenuity behind it.”

He continued, “That also made me understand that when someone says they aren’t creative, they are mistaking creativity for craft.”

Bingo.

Craft is how you do stuff. It is the byproduct of working hour after hour, week after week, year after year. It is something you acquire by learning a skill.

If you want to develop your craft, put in your time.

Creativity is the way in which you use craft.

You can be creative without being a great craftsperson.

Meshack argued, “The need to be creative is part of being human. It’s a need we all have, and a need that must be fulfilled for us to find engagement in our work, in our relationships, in our lives.”

Think you aren’t creative? You probably just lack the craft.

For decades, my perception was that I lacked any artistic creativity whatsoever: I can’t paint, and can barely draw. Then the world changed. It’s now easy, inexpensive, or even free to access art that other people have created.

Today, I can use words to create art via DALL-E and Midjourney. I have also learned to use the digital design platform, Sketch, to create a wide range of images and designs. All of these shift the emphasis from craft to creativity.

This experience has taught me that huge portions of the human race have untapped creativity. Combine them with people who possess craft, and watch amazing innovations emerge. By the same token, if you take people who possess great craft and combine them with people from different backgrounds and perspectives, the same wonderful results will emerge.

Andy Warhol was a famous artist, but by most accounts, he basically operated a factory in which other artists created “his” art; Andy was the idea guy. He mixed his creativity with other people’s craft.

Never make the mistake of thinking you are not creative. If you have this perception, seek out others with the craft to help you express your best ideas.

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