According to a recent IBM survey of more than 1,500 CEOs from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide, chief executives believe creativity is the most vital leadership competency in successfully navigating an increasingly complex world.

If you are wondering which garden cultivates this seed called creativity, I would say it is your mind. The seed is there in all of us. Some water it on a regular basis and that occasionally produces a bloom.
 
Many of you must have seen the Oscar winning movie "'The Artist'.  I immensely liked it.  It is a stylish, brave and an outstanding creative attempt at movie making. I believe that true creativity is acquired when the piece is truly out of the box, and truly unique for its time. It is often our "good sense" that defeats creativity. If the director used his  "good sense" and  thought that there is no scope for a black and white silent movie in this colorful era, we wouldn't have a film like 'The Artist'. Creativity often comes  out of illogical thinking.

When every novelist wrote  big tomes chronicling the saga of  its characters from birth to death, a novelist named James Joyce used a technique called 'Stream of consciousness' to depict  just one day in the life of Stephen Dedalus, a medical student. In stream of consciousness writing,  the thoughts and feelings of a character are presented as they happen from moment to moment,  like an impromptu writing of thoughts and feelings. As a result, there is a rare excitement, freshness, vivacity and novelty when you read his novel  'Ulysses'.

When every great classical composers composed  mighty symphonies, a French composer named Claude Debussy gave birth to what is known as impressionistic music which was at once daring, dreamy and dazzling like the play of patterns of light. He sought to capture and crystallize the light, color and texture of a particular moment and thus his music comes as ethereal and evocative. 

Think of the evolution of Jazz music through its great proponents like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wynton Marsalis,  Wayne Shorter, Grant Green, Oliver Nelson and Charles Mingus. The art form of jazz celebrates individuality. Jazz musicians have a long history of introducing new ideas: new forms, new techniques, new sources, and new styles. They have found new ways to play their instruments, new ways to establish unique identities, and they have both expanded and re-invented their roles. The very cornerstone of Jazz demands spontaneous creativity or 'instant innovation' from every jazz player every time he performs. In fact, when you examine the world of jazz you will find a culture and a model that has been, and remains a hot bed of innovation.  That is why their music is a big canvass of creativity. 

When people painted pictures like photographs, an artist named Vincent Van Gogh  broke traditions and used bright, bold colors and short brush strokes, notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty, which later came to be known as the post impressionism in painting. 

Wheat Field with Crows- Van Gogh

"Creativity is just connecting dots", that is what Steve Jobs, one of the greatest creative minds of this century said. Unless we take effort to connect the seemingly unfamiliar to produce something magical, our life is mundane.
 
The Russian glasnost that led to the collapse of communism was nothing more than the political creativity of Gorbashev. As Einstein said "We cannot solve the problems of today by the same thinking that created these problems in the first place". So we need a creative approach whether dealing with problems in art, politics or science.
 
In our zeal to create a seamless flow through our days, we're in danger of losing something precious: the delights of the unexpected detours. Taking a lot of deviations  and detours from your normal journey, from your normal thought process is the key to creativity. An interruption can sometimes generate a new thought process.
 
If a person can't read or write, don't assume that he is incapable of it. It is  just that he or she hasn't learned how to do it. The same is true of creativity. When people say they're not creative, it's often because they don't know what's involved or how creativity works in practice.
 
Your imagination is the key and the very gateway of your reality. Release any sense of despair or despondency that you might have, they’re just energy drainers, leaving us feeling trapped or helpless. Reclaim your creative self…step out in trust and faith and you’ll move into a space of enthusiasm, excitement, hope and exhilaration.
 
Embrace your creative potential and develop a creativity mindset to achieve success. As we embrace our creativity, we become more in tune with the infinite and feel blessed. 
 
Maybe you’re no Shakespeare or Van Gogh, but the story of your life is written by your thoughts and beliefs and feelings…funny, we already have all the tools we need. I believe we are all creative. I believe we have the power to  live a life filled with creative freedom, joy, and true authenticity and are capable of  expressing our creativity to the fullest potential. Whether you paint, sign, act, design, sculpt, write, compose, cook, or construct…have a bit of a creativity in your mindset and that is the start of a meaningful life. The spirit of creativity is a flame burning brightly within all of us.
 
Fan That  Flame of Creativity Within You.