From the course: Creativity Tips for All

What is creativity?

From the course: Creativity Tips for All

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What is creativity?

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- Hi, my name is Ben Long. I'm a photographer and writer. I have a number of courses here in the LinkedIn Learning Library. This new series we're working on now, Creativity for All, is a little different than others we've filmed in the past in that I won't be the only presenter. I'm kicking things off with my own series of installments, but after that, it will be passed to someone else, then to another person, and so on. So, over the course of this series, you're going to get a number of different ideas and approaches to the creative process. How can there be different approaches to the creative process? Because creativity is a skill, albeit a slippery one. And now, I'd like to introduce you to one of my creative outlets, riding my motorcycle. (zipping) If you've never been on a motorcycle, then you might not understand the appeal. You might think that people who are into motorcycles just like to go fast. But ask anyone who's serious about it, and they'll tell you that what they look forward to on a bike is turning. What you definitely won't know if you've never ridden is that there is an aesthetic to a turn. If I come back from a ride and feel like I haven't been turning very well, there can be a sense of disappointment. But if I feel like I did a good job of setting up a turn, throwing the bike into it, letting it pull itself out and holding the line that I wanted through all of that, then I have a real sense of satisfying accomplishment. In other words, for me, riding a motorcycle is a creative act. We've called this series Creativity for All for a reason and that is that everyone is creative. Unfortunately, in this culture, we have a popular idea that there are creative people and non-creative people. Artists are considered a class of their own. In the workplace, we even categorize certain jobs as creative. People speak of artists and creatives as possessing a gift, that they're somehow special. That's all nonsense. Everyone is creative. Every time you thoughtfully assemble an ensemble to wear or carefully prepare a meal, you're being creative. The creative process is a skill, nothing more, and being a skill, that means it's a process that can be learned. We're going to teach you that skill. In this series of movies, I'm going to discuss what I consider to be the very beginning of the creative process. We're going to look at what I believe is the critical moment where all creative process begins, and that moment is, oh, I'm sorry, we're out of time. Until next week then.

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