Creativity defined is quite personal in nature. No one can map out exactly what creativity is for any other person but him or herself. It’s personal, unique and quite undeniably special to every human being. In fact, it’s what makes us human. Our creativity is born like blueprints to tell little stories of where we’ve been in life and where we’re going. Whether you’re a musician, an artist, a cook, a gardener, a writer, a jeweler, a doll maker, a candle maker, a florist or a photographer, you express yourself through a medium that is unique to you.

The bigger question is, why create? What compels people to create? What is the driving force behind the process of creation? Again, there will be a multitude of scenarios and different answers depending on the person. If you ask the question to one hundred different people, you will get one hundred different answers. Most often people don’t know why they create other than it’s something that they must do to express what lies deep within ones soul or a developed talent. It’s an inner calling, a pulling, a pushing, a whisper, or a crying out that screams to just “do your thing.” It’s definitely an internal message that one cannot ignore.

Some people are most creative when they are happy. Joy pours out into scrumptious tasting recipes for the happy cook, such as that of Emeril. Whereas the melancholy person may produce heart felt poetry. Emily Dickenson could not have produced the hundreds of poems that made her so famous such as "Because I could not stop for Death," had she not tucked herself away in solitary states of sadness. Perhaps a mix of both is needed for passionate painting like those produced by Vincent Van Gogh. The world would not have the deep, dark "Starry Night" had Gogh decided to sleep through the night and not paint the stars. Mood can really affect ones creativity.

At Christmas time I met my parents for dinner at an upscale restaurant in town. My mother has recently survived a long battle with breast cancer. She has been very upbeat with a new lease on life. She normally wears a conservative solid-colored skirt and jacket as her signature outfit. To my surprise my 69-year-old mother had on a leopard skin jumper from head to toe with dazzling earrings and necklace. I was blown away. It was definitely creatively not my mother. But ever since she beat cancer she’s been dressing creatively. Sometimes it takes a great pain, tragedy, or life-changing event to bring out creativity. I hadn’t touched a paintbrush in 12 years until I had open-heart surgery to repair a congenital valve defect. While recovering I painted a self-portrait as a gift for my husband. I’ve been painting like a mad woman ever since!

Like Dickenson’s poetry, journal writing is often born out of deep pain and or a need to release pent up emotions that need to be expressed. Some of the best selling autobiographies started out as simple creative pen-in-hand journals.

No matter what your choice of creative expression, creativity is who we are as humans. It is what makes us human. Without creativity our lives lack enrichment and fulfillment for our souls. So whatever your medium is – create!