Have you ever felt creatively stifled? Could there be some external force inhibiting you from living up to your creative potential? Are you in an environment that tries to cage your creative side?
I’ve seen it happen time and time again. Not only that, I’ve experienced it as well. Far too many times have I seen and felt the tragedy of untapped, unappreciated, or undermined creative potential. In most cases it is a person in authority who has concluded that anything that doesn’t fit their mold isn’t any good. They have concluded that their ideas, regardless of where their strength lies, are superior. Therefore, anyone who has something fresh, new, or outside-the-box to offer must adhere to their standard or be dismissed as irrelevant.
Adobe recently did a study on the state of creativity in the world. It’s pretty astonishing what they came up with. Don’t take my word for it though, see for yourself:
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Tell me that doesn’t make your heart sad.
Out of the people surveyed 80% of them believed that creativity is crucial to economic growth. Astonishingly, only 25% of people actually believe they’re living up to their creative potential! The statistic directly below shows that 75% of people believe they are under pressure at work to be productive rather than creative.
A little while back I was interviewed for a podcast for artists and my interviewer asked me why I thought Christianity went through such a creative dry spell. I told him I wasn’t sure, but I was really excited that the “dark ages” of Christian creativity was over. Now that I think about it, and have seen it with my own eyes, I think I understand how it happened.
Too many leaders with too much authority and not enough humility to admit that someone can have bigger vision than them.
All of us were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). We are the creation, created in the image of the Creator. Some of us were gifted to be more creative than others, but all of us were meant to use our creativity to glorify the one who gave it to us.
If your creativity is being stifled by someone who thinks they have the authority to do so, always remember that it’s not you they’re stifling, it’s the one who gave you the creativity whom they must answer to. Channel the frustration you feel into a more positive outlet and let your creativity soar.
Have you ever felt creatively stifled? How did you deal with it?
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