I undertake this virtual dialogue with you knowing that there have been moments in your teaching or parenting experience where you were as emotionally captivated as I was when I found my 4-year old son lying on the floor, totally engrossed in a book. I assumed he was looking at the pictures and telling himself stories about them, only to discover, as I silently moved closer, that he was actually reading the text!

To say I was moved would be an understatement. With this emotional realization came a series of questions about the creative process. They were questions I’d pondered before, but now, because of this visceral experience, they became immediate in a new way. How had he learned to do this? By what process had he assimilated all the tools that had been laid before him? How had his home and pre-school environments nurtured that process? And, most personally, had I helped? I hoped so. And if I had, could I foster creative environments in other educational settings for my students and clients, so that their creativity could enhance learning?

Learning any skill is a highly personal process. While keeping up with the many advances in educational approaches, I also recognize that the process wherein a person of any age assimilates concepts and tools and teaches him/herself remains mysterious. Ultimately, the more experience we gain as teachers, the more we realize that we don’t teach our students, we help them to teach themselves.

I believe that one of the keys is to more fully understand the nature of our own creativity and how to access it. When we talk about what it means to be creative, however, we run up against some very powerful, pervasive societal myths about what it is and is not, such as: Some people are inherently more creative than others. Only people in the arts are creative. Creative people are drawn to the arts and humanities, not to the sciences. Creativity does not apply to business.

You may have encountered some other myths of your own. In my 20-odd years of working with students and clients, I find it helpful to examine and defuse those myths early on, because these concepts keep a tight lid on our creative energy and our innate ability to use it. By continuing to embrace these negative concepts, we not only limit our understanding of our own creative vitality, we limit access to it. And if one theme threads through all my work, it is that the creativity inherent in each of us is infinite. My students’ experiences have confirmed that continually accessing and applying creativity is a vital component to well-being and productivity.

My working definitions of creativity are:
The energy that grows every aspect of our lives.
The internal imperative to evolve and leave an imprint.

At this point in a live conversation, I would ask you, “What do these definitions suggest to and for you? Do they resonate with you? What would you add that compels or invites your creative vitality?”

Since creativity is an internal mandate comprised of thoughts and feelings nurtured in a supportive atmosphere, I would invite you to explore what stimulates your creativity. Once we begin to recognize and embrace what those ingredients are, we can become a conduit for them. As a consequence, our ability to access our students’ creativity is also enhanced. And as educators, isn’t this an essential component of our vision?

For me, stimulating and accessing creative energy is both an art and a science involving concrete and proven methodologies. Let me illustrate. During the past several months, I have been taking my professional acting class on a learning journey by creating an environment that invites their creativity. We are studying the plays of Anton Chekhov. On class evenings, everyone contributes food and we sit around a large table where candles flicker and the outside world gradually disappears. Everyone begins to breathe more deeply, voices soften, and an intimacy settles over the group. We remind ourselves about those occasions when timeless meals, good companionship, and endless storytelling have transported us. In this atmosphere, without leaving the table, I invite them to act their scenes with their partners.

The performances are stunning, natural, and unlike anything else I have seen from them in any other context. During our follow-up discussions they talk movingly about what they learned. This learning is multidimensional and is far more profound than any of us expected. Ultimately, I have set up a “360-degree” learning environment and laid the tools at their feet. They have taught themselves by accessing and allowing their creativity to guide them.

The story of my son’s learning to read or my students’ superb performances are but two examples of the principle that creativity causes learning. In both instances, stimulating creativity has resulted in a more profound and personal learning experience. They reinforce my belief that the study of creativity itself ought to be foundational subject for everyone, especially educators. Or as a colleague of mine suggested: “Creativity is source learning.”

The implication here is that when creativity is stimulated and accessed, it opens up an internal receptivity and connection to the subject at hand. We perceive the material through an entirely different lens and relate to it more intimately. When we do this, we take ownership of the subject and find ways to teach ourselves. By employing all the senses, we may work more experientially and intuitively. We more easily suspend judgment, become less frustrated, therefore improving focus, stamina, and staying power. This results in greater, deeper learning.

If learning is the result of stimulating creativity, I believe it follows that creativity is the cause and learning is the consequence. Learning about the nature of individual creativity and how to access it is, then, a source subject. And if it indeed is, then perhaps it should be the first subject we study.

Imagine developing literacy in the field of creativity – imagine developing a curriculum that studies creativity and becoming fluent in how to understand it, access it in others and ourselves. Imagine how empowered our students would feel by being able to use these inner resources. Imagine the spirit of collaboration that could be released in the classroom. And imagine the impact and the imprint we would have.