Do You Create, or Are You a Creator?
Is it what you do, or who you are?
So, I have always struggled when trying to introduce myself to people. I mean, I KNOW the important stuff like my name and… well I feel solid on my name. The part I struggle with afterwards is, “What am I?”
Generally, I defer to the situation that I am in. At a business function I would give my title and mention who I work with. If I was at a school function, I would introduce myself as my child’s parent. In a social setting, like a party, I might mention how I know the host. None of these really describe who or what I am, though.
Is this because I am SUCH a deep, layered human being that I cannot distill myself down into a couple of sentences? Is it because I am so mind-blowingly awesome that being honest about who I am would just sound like bragging? Is it because I don’t want to be open and every time I meet someone I automatically find a mask to wear so I don’t have to reveal my true self to someone and let them in?
OR… is the issue that I don’t really know really know what I am, so I can’t simply tell someone else? I think that might be it and I would guess that I am not the only creative who feels this way.
The Term “Creative”
Ok, I am going to be extra open here and tell you that I HATE calling myself an artist. Not because I think that there is anything wrong with that. I LOVE making art. I love that there is a creative fire inside myself that moves me to create art.
My problem with the term “artist” is that by taking it on myself I am associating with some people that straight up do not like or respect. You have probably seen some self-proclaimed artists on social media… they are down-trodden and overwhelmed by the artistic vision that they are both blessed and cursed with. They cannot properly convey the incredible deep emotions they feel and are forced to make art lest they explode!! Then they sit on the floor in the middle of a big room and hit a pile of butter with a dog chain and call it their art.
Then I learned this word:
I was overjoyed when I first heard the title, “Creative.” It was how I felt about what I did. I created things. It was not tied down to a single medium, or even a single area of creation. There was no suggestion that creation had anything to do with how I made a living, and that was ok! Being a creative simply meant that you make things! It could be traditional art like painting or sculpting, but maybe it was writing or making music… it all worked and I loved that!
But is that “What I Am?”
Ok, I realize we may be wandering into overthinking territory here, but does being creative make me a creative, or am i just a person who likes to make things? Am I creative, or am I a creative? Does it really matter?
I want to say that it doesn’t matter, but I think that there is a reason to know the difference. It’s not about having a label or a good thing to tell people I am… I think there is a difference between doing something, and being something.
I am going to make my own defining line here, and it is pretty simple on the surface. We are all creative people. We all have the ability to make something from nothing. By being humans, we have the ability to create. Everyone can create.
Being a creative, on the other hand, is not for everyone. I don’t want to lean on a creative doing creative things for a living, here, because i think there are a lot of creatives out there with non-creative day jobs. Being a creative is about more than how you make a paycheck.
I believe that you are a creative when you NEED to create. When there is that thing inside you that will gnaw at you until it gets out of your imagination and into the real world. I think you are a creative when you know that you will not sleep through the night until you make that thing that has been floating through your brain for the past three weeks. I believe that if you are a creative, you create simply because you cannot NOT create!
So I am a creative.
Do you struggle to define yourself as a creative?