The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

Learn it and use it for life.

Many of the things we want require us to figure out what will get us there. Imagine walking into a white room. It’s you, what you’re wearing, and not much else. How do you feel? Where do you start?

For some people, the empty room is terrifying — like a stage, a microphone, a blank sheet, a new canvas. Some people find that the moment before creativity kicks in opens a door so painful that they don’t even go there.

Imagine when your creativity represents the livelihood for a group of people. If you get up and walk away — from the computer, the canvas, the keyboard — if instead you reorder your closet, take a nap, go shopping, you’ll never know what your capable of.

Creativity is for everyone, says Twyla Tharp. Tharp choreographed shows — including Mikhail Baryshnikov in a crossover ballet Push Comes to Shove (1976) — and films — including Hair (1978), and Amadeus (1983.)

Business people who look for a new way to close a sale; engineers who are trying to solve a problem; parents who want their children to see the world in more than one way — everyone can learn to become (more) creative.

But before we figure out how to be creative, it’s worth asking —

What is creativity?

A definition can act like a compass to stir understanding. Media theorist and cultural critic Neil Postman said that a definition is an instrument of purpose; it’s valuable to know the question that led to it.

The question that led to this particular definition is whether creativity can be taught. If we want to learn, someone/something needs to teach us. With this in mind, I found Sir Ken Robinson’s definition of creativity the most insightful.