Too often creativity is treated as a mystical power available only to those who write, paint, or compose. In reality, creativity is available to everyone, if you know how to put your mind in a place to be creative. Being creative doesn't have to mean painting the next Mona Lisa or designing the next skyscraper. It is simply finding new connections born from your experiences to create something new and useful. It doesn't have to change everyone's world, changing a little piece of your own is enough. Even better news is that the more you create, the more creative you become. Your brain becomes trained to look for connections where there were none before.
This blog catalogs creativity found in everyday, sometimes unexpected places. Sometimes the creativity comes from excess...what am I going to do with all of this XXX. Other times creativity comes from a lack of resources...how am I going to do that without this? Regardless of the inspiration, creativity is the force that keeps our civilization moving forward.
Recently I had the opportunity to visit an heirloom seed show. Here the focus is not on making something new, but on preserving the old. Nevertheless, I found creativity everywhere. The most impressive were these fantastic seed packs from Hudson Valley Seed Company. Every seed company ships their seeds in little envelopes dutifully labeled. Instead of doing what has been done a million times before, this company turns their seed packets into little works of art. The images are both attractive and inspiring. But, the creativity doesn't stop there. The packets are made so they can be unfolded to see the full artwork. People hang the opened seed packets/art works in their potting sheds to brighten up a sometimes dull space. For the seed company, this serves as an advertisement people want to see. All season long, gardeners are reminded of Hudson Valley Seed Company and their products.
With a little thinking, Hudson Valley turned a purely functional piece of packaging into a new product all of its own. An artful packet of seeds can be a legitimate, inexpensive gift for a gardener. Gardeners look forward to the next season's seed packs as much as they look forward to the seeds inside them. This is stacked creativity. The artist who interpreted carrots as a kaleidoscope practiced the sort of design and artistic creativity that defines an artist. The businessperson (they may have been the same person) found a new, useful way to adapt a seed packet into something all its own.
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