We need to redefine creativity. Here’s a less intimidating roadmap to find your own at work and in life

BY JINJA BIRKENBEUEL, Writer, Fast Company Magazine

Any time you have an idea or ask a question, it’s creation.

There is a stigma around the word “artist,” and this stigma is that you have to hold a paintbrush, or write a song or a book, or be a fashion designer making clothes to be considered a creator or artist. These are narrow definitions of what a creative or an artist is.

How many times have you asked someone, “Did you make that?” and the person responds, “Oh God, no! I don’t have a single creative bone in my body.” As if the only definition of creativity is being able to hold a pencil and draw something. This is a lie we’ve been told since we were children, and we believed it. Our vision of an artist is set to the standard we see in museums or what we see during the Grammy Awards—all the historical references of what a “real” artist is.