Fr. T.O. Sebastian
[dropcap]C[/dropcap]reativity involves the ability to produce something novel, useful and unique. Creative thinking is developed by the free and fearless use of imagination. You are creative when you make something that is new and useful. You are creative when you challenge old and accepted ideas and ways of doing things in order to find new solutions and concepts. You are creative when you take the old ideas and put them into entirely a new setting to produce something new. Creativity is a novel way of seeing things or doing things. Creative people break out of usual routines and patterns of behaviour. Today we call them people who think out of the box. They find innovative solutions to difficult problems.
Creative imagination can be an in born quality of the mind or an acquired quality. You can acquire it by the free and fearless use of the imagination. Creative imagination does not come by itself. Creativity requires expertise” creative thinking skills and task motivation. If you are to invent something new in science or art you msut have great expertise in science and art before you can set to invent something new and useful to humanity. Expertise in the subject is the base for launching out to something new and different. Edison without a thorough knowledge of electricity could not have invented the electric lamp nor could Einstein in physics make those invention and Picasso bring about such master pieces in art without a thorough knowledge of their respective fields of work. Creative thinking is the ability to think differently. It is the ability to see the same old things in a new light or a new vision. It is the ability to recognise new analogies relationships and connections and be able to put to use these new findings to new purpose, a purpose that was not originally meant. In order to bring about creativity you need to foster divergent thinking, lateral thinking and the like.
If you want to be creative, you need to be independent, self confident and risk taking. To be independent means that you are master in your field. You do not depend on someone else for carrying out your programmes and projects. You may occasionally consult someone if required but you do not allow yourself totally to be guided by some one else. You have to know how to carry out your project. Again self-confidence is an essential characteristic of a creative thinker. You may have wonderful ideas but without self-confidence you will not be able to turn those ideas into realities. Most of you have your own dreams and visions; but these dreams and visions will not be realised unless you have the courage to take calculated risks. You cannot step into unfamiliar territory or launch into unknown fields without the courage and willingness to take risks. It is only when you have created or discovered something new and useful that you can exclaim with joy “Eureka, Eureka”.
