I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with these lines: “I would totally enjoy singing, but I’m a terrible singer.” or “I’d love to act, but I just don’t have the talent for it.” and my favourite “If only I was born a more creative person!” What a load of bollocks!

People act like being creative is purely genetic, like those of us, who like to tinker with materials and create things, are carrying a gene or some sort of virus that gives us the powers of creativity. And yet, as far as I’m aware, nobody ever became a great painter by being bitten by Bob Ross.

But if you watched his show and did what he showed you, you actually had a good chance of becoming one. Because creativity isn’t based on genetics (otherwise we would have probably died-off as a species a long time ago), it’s something that is at the core of every human being.

Now, to be fair, people can get a head-start in their creative careers; some by being born into an artistic family, others by being exposed to the right peers and influences while growing up. But while being curious about the world around us is more or less the foundation of any creative career, if we never do anything about it, it slowly but surely fades into the background.

Each of us had to nurture their own creativity and build new skills in order to be able to project it into the world. Like learning how to walk, we had to learn how to express ourselves. And not just by painting pretty pictures, but by learning about who we are, what our place is in society and how we can make the world a better place for ourselves and others around us. 

While we may all be born as good and loving beings, none of us come into the world with the necessary tools to express that love and goodness. If you think about it, the average baby can’t even find its feet, let alone tell its parents that it loves them.