In the last few decades, researchers in psychology and neuroscience have been able to identify thinking processes that are associated with creativity. They find that creatives tend to be able to spontaneously brainstorm ideas and at the same time deliberately evaluate those ideas and determine whether they will work. This combination of playfulness and discipline is called divergent thinking.
Creatives also have the ability to get completely lost in their work. They often say that when they are doing their best work, all the other world disappears and they feel like they are one with their art or craft. For this reason, creative people are usually more productive alone than in groups. This is why many artists choose to pursue their passions as a full-time career, even though that often means financial instability.
It is important for creative people to remain curious about the world around them. Often creatives are insatiable questioners that want to understand the way things work. This could be through intense conversation or solitary mind-wandering, but whatever it is, it fuels their creativity.
While it may seem like creatives are naive, they are actually quite smart. They often have a high level of what psychologists call general intelligence, which allows them to see connections between seemingly unrelated ideas. Having this core intelligence, however, doesn’t make them arrogant or supercilious; on the contrary, they are usually self-deprecating and humble. They know that their contributions are based on the hard work of those who came before them and they recognize the role that luck played in their success as well.
In a similar vein, creative people are incredibly ambitious and strive for excellence in everything they do. While they may not be the best at any particular activity, they are always trying to improve and push their boundaries. Creatives are not afraid of failure; they know that the road to success is paved with failure and they are willing to take it. In fact, one of the most common traits of creative people is resilience. They are able to bounce back quickly from failure and keep pushing forward with their next idea.
While these characteristics are often seen as positive, they can lead to negative consequences for creatives in our current society. The problem is that the systems that creative people are forced into require them to conform to a certain type of human being, reducing their uniqueness and potential for greatness. As a result, creatives often manifest their frustration with this situation in a variety of ways. However, if creatives were to embrace their individuality and stay true to themselves, they might have the potential to truly change the world for the better. It is for this reason that it is so vital that all of us strive to be more creative. It is only by doing so that we can ensure that the world is a better place for everyone.