Possibilities

Awareness of human creativity as a fundamental human trait would boost human confidence in a big way. How could the awareness of being creative possibly contribute to trust ourselves more?

If we look at what is not creative - repetition, routine, inertia, assembly lines and mass production for example - we get a taste of what contributes to human unhappiness and low self-esteem. There is no way that participating in those above mentioned processes contributes to an adequate confidence. What do I mean by adequate?

I believe that humans have innate qualities which don’t come in pairs. Love is one of them, compassion another one and so is creativity. We don’t learn to love but we learn to hate. Same is with compassion which is obviously an inherent human talent and, of course, creativity.

There might be many people who consider themselves being not creative. But in their dreams or their daily escapes we can recognize lots of creativity. For example when people need to find an excuse they can be very creative. They just have never been encouraged to use their creativity in a positive way beyond the needy survival level. Neither do criminals employ their sometimes amazing creativity for their own and the greater good: they are stuck in a world full of suspicion, aggression and anxiety.

To enjoy full benefits from creativity one has to understand some elements of it. Besides that creativity is a human given, something we all share in, it has as its main quality and permanent characteristic: possibility. Creativity means that there are other options than the ones we knew so far. That is actually the nature of it: to go beyond a certain set of rules or an established structure or form. Something new means chosing between different options that weren’t there before. At least that is how it appeared to be.

So where is the connection to confidence? Why should creativity strengthen human trust?

The experience of frustration or limitation or lack of alte
atives seems to indicate: this is it! Accept your defeat, there is NO WAY out from here. And that is exactly where creativity comes in. It says: wait a minute, let’s see what other options we have. We never thought about this or that or whatever. Thus the experience of creativity consists in a multitude of options, even if they seem hidden at first. To be conscious about this and experience it gives human trust an immense boost. Suddenly change is a chance for something better. Creativity is a world of possibilities. We can choose before we have to.