Are you ‘real’ creative or a phony? 25 quirks to help you find out
Are you someone who enjoys ‘reinventing the wheel’ but in your own quirky ways? Or maybe you are not so sure and you’d rather stick to the tried and tested manuals. I get you, I have been there too. Hence I am hoping that by the end of this post you will have arrived at a conclusion.
Fingers crossed!
On some days you feel like you will be the next Picasso, Hemmingway, or Mozart, and the likes. Other days you feel like a phony. But let me tell you this, creative people struggle with self-doubt more often than not.
Life is not a straight line. At some point, every one of us has to be creative, so we can maneuver the ups and downs life throws at us. But an occasional creative hack doesn’t make you a creative person. You earn the right of passage to the creative life by the blood-shedding involved (mostly your own). Also, the fact that you’d gladly do it than settle for anything less. But of course, there are also less violent ways to know whether you truly are a creative person or not.
Here are 25 qualities/traits/habits/ways that can help you identify whether creativity lives in your veins or not.
If you associate with most of them in some way, rest assured. Pick your crown and walk into the realms of this special calling.
- You are a powerhouse of ideas. Your brain keeps throwing one idea after the other at you but you have no clue how you will ever bring all of them to life in one lifetime.
- You have a thought process that is different from the ‘non-creative’ people around you. Naturally, you flock with the same feathered creative ones
- You look for ways to make or DIY things before spending money on a readymade product. Not because you are cheap but you love having one-of-a-kind stuff
- You have special note-taking apps/diaries just for all the ideas you want to capture, on the verge of being called a hoarder.
- You live by the motto that ‘creativity is a way of life’ and try to leave your ‘signature‘ in most of the tasks you do
- Your early memories have some association with your chosen field of creativity. You did it as a kid and stuck with it through the years. (I used to journal my favorite quotes and file poetry and paper cutout, which has now evolved into my love for writing and crafts)
- You read ‘n’ number of blogs, articles, books, watch YouTube videos, and whatever else you can lay your hands on, soaking in all you can about your creative interests
- SOPs, rule books, and checkboxes make you roll your eyes
- You are a lazy, procrastinating sloth until the moment a spark happens and turns you into a creative ninja who can pull daring stunts to see that idea through
- You have to work much harder at self-motivation. The creative work itself is more or less a cakewalk for you
- You look around you and just about anything can spark a creative idea. Something as boring as wall dust can evolve into a muse
- Your mind connects the most unusual things together in a way that people around you struggle to catch up with your horse-powered thoughts on your favorite subject
- People who know you turn to you for creative advice or problems that need a creative solution
- You have come up with creative troubleshooting that isn’t an otherwise obvious solution but worked out just fine
- Every once in a while, you are paid (monetary or non-monetary) for your creative hobby (can potentially monetize it)
Before we go further, I want to share with you what Leslie Ehm has to say about how life is for creative people. Boy, is that true?
She is a creativity expert, President, and Chief Fire Starter at Combustion Training In an interview with Think Jar shares her life as a creative journey in music, writing, script editing, ad agency, etc.
Creativity for me has always been a kind of lifeblood. I don’t think I was really capable of doing anything else, because the creative drive in me was so strong – and I was pretty hard to boss around (laughing).
Leslie Ehm, in an interview with Think Jar
I’d put my money on that because that’s how it is for creative people isn’t it?
Continuing with the quirks only creative people can relate to:
16.You secretly like being associated with a creative label like writer, painter, photographer, fashionista, etc.
17.You are spontaneous by nature, much to the chagrin of non-creatives
18.Routines bore you to tears though you know they are a must for your creative growth
19.You are your own worst critic and are constantly on the lookout for better ways to evolve your artistic expressions
20.You are more comfortable about keeping your creative work hidden (because it’s so personal to you) than setting it up for scrutiny
21.When you share it with people it’s in the hopes that it would either be helpful or appreciated by them
22.You don’t take kindly to negative feedback even though you know criticism sharpens your creative process
23.You don’t hesitate to spend money on maintaining/feeding your passion, even if it means single-use or no/low ROI supplies
24. You will not leave your house without it because you never know when you might need an escape plan from aliens, people, queues, etc
25. You dream about it, slog hours on end for it, and would even do it for free (getting paid would be nice though) just because it fills you with unparalleled excitement and joy
So there you go! There are so many other ways and habits that creative people have that are unique to them. We are known for our quirks and special gifts. Creativity doesn’t come easy.
Many times others can’t empathize with the struggles of this calling. But don’t let it stop you from being yourself anyway.
If you have associated with most of the above points, welcome to the club buddy! Don’t forget to share this post among your creative groups!
Are you a creative person? I’d love to know your special quirks in the comment section.
Thanks!
