The Birth of Creativity, By Olurotimi Odejayi

By Olurotimi Odejayi

There can be no better time to be creative than now. The time is always right for young leaders to create or do something creative. Recall all the array of opportunities you had to access the internet, good teachers, helpful counselors, library of educating materials, access to information technology devices, and youth’s ability to ponder using the abundant potentials of the brain; as few of the encouraging reasons why you should be creative. Now and not later is the right time for you to unleash your creative potential. One important question calling for urgent answer is; “at what point will I become creative?” Simply put, when can youngsters give birth to a creative effort? The answer is, at the time youth become inspired. The key word to demystify in this column is the word ‘inspiration’.

 

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defined the word ‘inspiration’ to mean ‘the quality or state of being inspired’, which simply means ‘the process that takes place when somebody sees or hears something that causes him to have exciting new ideas or make them want to create something new especially in art, music or literature. For example, dreams can be a rich source of inspiration for an artist. It could be said that an individual’s time of getting inspired is the beginning of creativity. So, give birth to yours today.

 

You can get inspiration for any creative idea through reading intellectual book, critical thinking, dreaming, listening to great speakers, among many other means. So, on what premise is this inspiration based?

 

Inspiration has to do mainly with what you know beforehand. Getting inspired is mainly a function of (what you know), your skill. There is an inseparable connection between what an individual knows (what is called skill) and the kind of inspiration he or she gets. Skill means the ability to do something well. A personal definition given to the word “skill” is: “a man’s ability plus his know-how”. By logic, we can deduce that creativity is usually born out of an inspired mind plus skill. Besides, creativity is seen as a function of your inspiration, although this rests solely on your previous experiences.

 

Experience is the knowledge as well as the skill you have gained through doing something for a period of time. No one can buy experience with money, hence the need for us all to be exposed. Useful life experiences can be gotten from exposures to reading, going on excursion, acquiring formal education, undergoing internship or apprenticeship, laboratory or and studio session, watching intellectual videos, surfing through the internet, among many other ways. The question is – What can you do perfectly without anybody’s assistance?

 

Skill is what a youth is able to do in the form of a definite know-how after undergoing any of the above life experience. You can only be inspired in anything bordering on creativity when you already have some prior training which invariably gives you some acquired skills. No man is an island of knowledge, so it is imperative for every youth to firstly submit to their respective leaders, mentors, advisors, bosses and trainers to learn the necessary skills.

 

The birth of anything creative starts from the inspiration you get and this inspiration must meet you already skillful. Here is a fundamental question for you. What do you know? Before you can be termed a creative youth, what do you need to learn to be a better person? Endeavor to acquire the necessary skills, learn from your past experiences, and be calm enough to allow inner introspection that will lead you to being inspired. Inspiration begets creativity. Berth your creative idea or creative venture on getting connected to a brilliant idea which is revealed to you. That is what is called inspiration.

 

OLUROTIMI ODEJAYI

INNOVATION EXPERT & YOUTH AMBASSADOR

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By ODEJAYI OLUROTIMI OLUSEUN.

Odejayi works in the ICT department of the Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria. He started his writing career in 2006 as a Columnist for Everycampus Newspaper. He is the author of the motivational book “DARE TO PONDER”. In in 2014, he published the Maiden and second editions of the publication “INSPIRING YOUNG LEADERS” Magazine. You can view few of his works on the following websites: www.daretoponder.com, inspiringyoungleaders.com and www.iyoungleadersmag.com.