I would be a billionaire today if I had a dollar for every time someone said to me "I'm not creative". (Okay, so maybe a thousand-aire.) Here is a newsflash. Everyone is creative.

I would be a billionaire today if I had a dollar for every time someone said to me "I'm not creative". (Okay, so maybe a thousand-aire.) Here is a newsflash. Everyone is creative. Creativity is the act of creating. Have you ever made dinner? Creative. Have you ever rearranged your furniture? Creative. Have you ever written a letter? Creative. How about purchased clothing. . .you got it. Creative.

Creativity can be defined as the act of something. That doesn't have to be something completely original. Creativity is about innovation and thinking in new ways. Some of the most creative people I know have traditionally left brain professions. A lawyer must look at each case and try to come up with arguments as to why his client is right. Ask the IRS how creative they think accountants can be!

You do not have to be an artist to expand your creativity. Did you know that many of most important discoveries in the world have been made while the discoverer was looking for something else? It takes creativity to recognize opportunity and shift off course to find something new.

Creativity involves many different mental capacities: seeing, noticing, choice, remembering, classifying, associating, comparing, challenging, evaluating, filtering, etc. A friend of mine defined creativity this way "the ability to take existing elements and combine them in a new way." That is probably as good a definition as any simplistic definition of a complex concept can be.

The first step to expanding your creativity is to give yourself permission to be creative. Sometimes we have internal blocks to creativity -- like old recordings from our childhood telling us that we are not artistic. Did you kindergarten teacher tell you that you weren't an artist? Those things can stick with you forever. Everyone that breathes has creativity with them, and like a "muscle" the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. Yes, some people seem to be born with a creative spirit, but that does not mean that you cannot develop your creativity.

Fear of criticism, lack of self-confidence, stress, and a non-supportive environment all make it more difficult to experience creativity. The largest obstacle to creative thinking is our belief that we are not creative. Look at it this way. Thomas Edison's teachers thought he was too stupid to learn. Einstein was four before he could speak and didn't learn to read until he was seven years old. Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school. Giuseppi Verdi was turned down for music school and advised to choose another career. Education is not a prerequisite for creative success. Neither is that anyone else thinks that you are creative. Go ahead, surprise everyone!

Here are some basic steps towards developing your creativity.

Save all your ideas -- put them in writing. Sometimes an abandoned idea finds new life later when you have more information

Spend time with creative people. Talk to them about their creativity and innovation. Creativity is catching!

Allow yourself to not be successful every time. There is no such thing as a failure if you learn from everything you do. Creativity doesn't mean inspired genius. Sometimes you may have to try something over and over until you reach perfection as you define it.

If you are feeling stuck, combine old ideas in new ways.

If you are getting frustrated, do something you know you are good at. Confidence can be key to creativity. When you come back feeling good about your success you will be able to look at your project with new eyes.

Tera Leigh (pronounced Lee) is a 35-year-old artist / author living in California. She has a doctorate degree in law (J.D.), and teaches painting, creativity and goal setting for artists at conventions around the United States. She writes continuing columns for Paintworks and Decorative Artist Workbook magazines, and has written articles for publications such as Craftrends, Loew-Cornell's Teacher's Spectrum, Artist's Sketchbook, and The Decorative Painter. Tera's designs have been published in Crafts, Quick and Easy Painting, PaintWorks, and 101 Decorating Ideas Do It Yourself Magazine.You can visit her at her wonderful Web site, Tera's Wish.

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