Creativity: the use of imagination or original ideas to create something. Creativity is one of the virtues I most value in myself and others. It can be displayed in various works of art, literature, music, and other works that constitute creativity. For me, being creative is the best that any person can be, no matter the discipline of one’s work.

When we are children we are encouraged to be creative but as we grow older most of us limit our creativity as we conform to social norms, often as a means of fitting in and surviving in the world. My personal feelings about creativity, more especially in literature, are out of this planet. I marvel intensely on well written pieces of works as if I reap from them the pleasures of eating well cooked-mouth-watering food. Whenever time I pick up a vividly expressed written book, it inspires in me the desire to contribute my own bits of writing to the whole community of the literary world.

No matter how old we are, creativity remains the best way of expressing ourselves. From when I was younger, my aspiration has always been to do something creative. I just didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do until I picked a book called Mending Season by Kagiso Lesego Molope. She intrigued me with her clever and creative way of using words. And for the first time in my whole life I knew what I wanted to express my creativity through, and it was writing.

Most of us often become scared of expressing ourselves because we don’t want others to judge us. We forget that the only way not to be judged or talked about is by doing absolutely nothing and becoming nothing, which is what most of us tend to settle for. If we, as human beings, can accept the fact that we are all born creative and use our creativity differently and in varied degrees, the world would be a better place to live in.

As I write this piece, I had just read a book called Seven Steps To Heaven by Fred Khumalo. His ingenious use of words compelled me to write something for I couldn’t fathom how some authors could be so gifted in their expressions and paint such vivid pictures with so much ease than others.

Then it dawned on me that indeed creativity is something to be marveled at, appreciated and valued. I am now determined more than ever to produce my own creative work, because I know that I have it in me to be a great writer. I just need to have faith in myself and trust the creative genius in me. It has taken me long enough to know and understand that the creative genius I found in myself is actually in each one of us. We just have to awaken ourselves to it and take necessary steps to reach our maximum potentials.

As for me, the necessary steps I have undertaken was to actually read a book from the first page up until the last page. And after I had done a great deal of savouring of words from books, I was carried by a burning desire to put a pen onto a paper and express creatively my innermost thoughts for all to see without any fear or being judged.

Creativity has so many benefits that most people who are in a creative space can agree upon. Amongst the benefits of being creative, I have found that it provides a sense of ‘freedom’ to people. If one does whatever they do creatively, then they have done the best they possibly could with self-awareness and expression.

Creative people search deeper into themselves and face their inner demons head on. They can use creativity as a stress reliever as creative people tend to write or paint whatever is stressing them out instead of agonizing over it. And also creative people generally have strong ‘problem solving abilities’ as they tend to deal and look at problems and issues with a different perspective than a lay person.

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Tell us: What did you take out from Setjhaba’s story about creativity?