Are You A Creative Person?

Have you ever wondered if you are a creative person? I have...maybe because I'm getting older and don't like the idea of running out of options. Or maybe I'm just at that place in my life where such questions come up. Foreigner did a song called “I Want To Know Where Love Is”…with these words…

I gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over
I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I'm older

Maybe I’m just now getting around to ‘reading between the lines’…
I've never considered myself a creative person when it comes to the arts. My interest in music was always to play the guitar, but never having any training made me a 'copier'...I tried to copy the things I heard other people play. Working and raising a family made practice a sometimes thing for me, and playing was more of a personal escape than any real movement forward.
I've never been very good at writing...always too quick and to the point. I always wanted to write songs, but never really got good at doing so.
And my photography, which started out as a way to work my way through college, has been an off and on thing for over forty-five years. My biggest drawback was the lack of a decent place to develop and print. So with my discovery of the 'new' digital workflow I suddenly began to rekindle old interests in taking photographs. The internet has now made the craft of photography a place where I might have a chance to explore my 'creative side'. Only problem is...I still have doubts that the creative part of me can produce the kind of work I want to leave behind.
My wife Janice and I have discussed on several occasions the 'right brain-left brain' theories...and I've always considered myself a left-brained person. I'm good at learning new things and find technical things easy for the most part. But I've always felt that I just didn't have 'what it takes' to be an artist. I'm sure even the best artists have doubts, but my doubts went to the heart of my ability to produce something new and different for me.
A few years ago I attended a series of conferences, one of which was by the author of the book Thinking Outside the Box. He spoke at length about working with Walt Disney, and about how Disney's unorthodox methods brought out the creative side of the people working for him. After a very stimulating lecture I approached him and expressed my doubts about my ability to be creative in an artful way because of my left-brained thinking. To his credit he didn't laugh at me, but rather took several minutes to explain his views on the subject.
Basically I was told everyone has it within his or her self to be creative, and that labeling someone right or left brained was not the whole story. Further, it is just a matter of practice to realize the artful, creative side of oneself and let those strengths grow (probably something most people already knew!). What an encouraging word from a stranger!
I think being in law enforcement for so long has convinced me that most things are black and white...guilty or innocent...good or bad, and that the gray areas are pretty slim. I’m trying to get away from that kind of thinking. I think we all have the ability to be as creative as we want to be. Some people seem to find that side of themselves easier than others of us, but it is within reach for all of us if we choose to step out...unafraid...and practice letting that part of ourselves grow.
I once wrote Alain Briot (www.beautiful-landscape.com) about my concerns with not being able to see 'photographically'. I told him a bit about my past, and said I didn't know why I was successful in other areas of my life...but not this one. His answer was simple...he told me he wouldn't know how to be a cop either...because he had never been trained to do so. He said seeing photographically is just a matter of training, and that anyone could learn to do so. What a refreshing thing to hear!
Sometimes it seems we're taught that being a successful artist is something certain people are born to do...and others not. I truly want to believe that each of us can explore and grow the creative and artful side of ourselves by being who and what we are...unique individuals…and that the experiences of our lives leave us all with a never ending source of creative power. If we can use that source of power honestly, earnestly, and without fear we should be able to reach goals far and away past any limits we set on ourselves.
Who knows...maybe I will write that song one day!