What Factors Come Together To Create Creativity?

I wanted to get back to the book that we were talking about called Dickens and Prince, A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby. We talked about how it’s sort of a meditation on perfectionism and how that can get in the way of your creativity, but we didn’t really talk about his pondering their creativity itself and how in the world those two guys or anybody who’s super creative ends up being that way.

And I wanted to share a line from that book that has stuck with me. He’s trying to figure out what it was that made both Prince and Charles Dickens so creative, and he eventually concludes every tiny step of their lives, every single parental decision, school lesson, friend, uncle, magazine, day out, crush, conversation, shopkeeper made them that way. That, I suspect, is the best we’ll ever be able to do.

I really appreciated that notion that we’re all a composite of all of our experiences come together.

Oh, of course. Yeah, I believe in the uniqueness of people. But I also believe that in order to step in different streams, you must intentionally seek out those different streams. Expose yourself purposely and purposefully in a different world than the people around you.

If you were consuming the same things they’re consuming, the media and the experiences, then how can you produce differently than they produce? You have to consciously seek out a different world than they do in order to be different.

Well, we’d love to hear your thoughts about creativity or perfectionism or a word that’s been rattling around your brain. Give us a call, 877-929-9673.