Creative Thinking: Eight Great Benefits

A boxful of thumb-drives holds a writer's unpublished works. The spare room closet and dressed-up photo albums hide an artist's unsold photography and painting. A dusty garage shelf claims a sheet metal worker's almost-perfected invention. Pitiful how time, effort, and money invested in such endeavors is wasted, isn't it?

No, it is not wasted.

Paltry financial returns and failure are only synonymous to the closed-minded observer. Psychological studies prove repeatedly that those who practice creativity have a leg up on their non-innovative counterparts. Generally they have:

1. Stronger immune systems, so can expect more satisfying, if not longer lives, according to a Harvard researcher.1
2. Greater self-confidence, happiness, courage and optimism. Armed with these traits, they look for solutions instead of complaining about a problem.
3. Inner peacefulness which helps them believe they or other visionaries will discover new methods to handle problems, including horrors described in certain doomsday predictions.
4. Better coping skills which prevent their emotional health from disintegration when they are in intractable situations.
5. Considerable tolerance for differing opinions, thus are less defensive when their beliefs or actions are questioned.
6. Self-motivation and persistence. They are too busy perfecting their craft, whatever that is, to be caught up in the daily buzz of negativity.
7. Cooperative attitudes; thus innovators are adept at collaborating and brainstorming.
8. Quiet independence.Their left and right brain hemispheres, in proper balance, signal creative thinkers to protect themselves from time-wasting intrusions on their lives. The innovative person, who must carve out time from an active schedule for the extra rest, meditation time, and the actual production of creative pursuits, intuitively turns away from, or learns to tune out, distractions.

Do you want to apply the attributes listed above to your self-image? Get those juices flowing now. Turn on your computer. Go to the Internet. Type "creativity" in the search box. My search led me to articles that affirmed my previous research and thoughts on the topic. Particularly in sync with today's blog outline was an article by Carlin Flora.1

I was surprised at one thing: Ms. Flora referred to "conventionals," or non-creative individuals. I've held the belief that we are all creative. But it's a moot point here, because "conventionals" would never read this blog.

Carlin Flora's article is a good place to start, and you will find a wealth of material on the Psychology Today website alone. You won't stop there, because the engine that drives your creativity is as original as your thumbprint. And once it's revved up, you're off to magical places that would pique the "conventionals'" curiosity if they dared to live fully. 

1 Website Psychology Today, "Everyday Creativity" by Carlin Flora. 01 November, 2009; reviewed 13 June, 2011.

(c) 2012, Bernice W. Simpson