How to be creative...?

Remember Robert Sternberg that we talked about last blog? Sternberg's Triarchic Theory? Well, now we're going to be talking about his 5 components of creativity. Sternberg and some colleagues of his came up with these 5 parts. We all know what it means to be creative; the ability to come up with new ideas or solutions. There is no measure or test of how "creative" someone is, but Sternberg has identified at least 5 parts that may play into our creativity: expertise, imaginative thinking skills, a venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, and a creative environment.
I'm going to further explain these 5 components. When I explain them, I'm going to explain in relation to my new-found love of painting.

MY FIRST PAINTING!!

The first component is expertise. Expertise is a base of knowledge from which one expands on. When I first started painting, I had to gather a bit of knowledge of what I needed. Yes, painting is a pretty free activity, but I wasn't too sure on what I needed to get started. Back in high school, I had watched my friend paint and she explained to me her process of painting, so that is where my expertise stemmed from. Expertise is also any prior experience that one has with a talent; obviously, I had no experience when I started painting. I like to say that my expertise formed a bit further when I finished my first painting.

Love you more!

The next component that Sternberg came up with is imaginative thinking skills. People often say creativity and imagination go hand in hand, and I couldn't agree more. Imagination is often necessary because you can't always follow instructions for everything you do in life. Painting especially involves imagination. At first, I looked to Pinterest for inspiration on WHAT to actually paint. Pinterest has given me so many great ideas that I don't have time to paint all of them! Pinterest also made me realize that you can't always redraw or repaint what someone has done. It kind of loses that personal touch. With painting, you just have to choose something to paint. For example, my mom and I always say "Love you more" to each other; before going to bed, getting off the phone, leaving for school/work, etc. When her birthday came around in October, I figured I would paint her something with that quote on it. Because it's a quote between my mom and I, it has more of a personal touch to it.


The third component is a venturesome personality. Venturesome can pretty much be described as being risks or choosing to do a new task or experience. As I've gotten older, this personality fits me more and more. I used to always say that I could never draw, could never paint, wasn't creative in the slightest. Though I'm not the person that would be first to jump out of a plane or jump off a cliff, being venturesome on a small-scale level fits me more. I took the risk of spending money on materials to start a new hobby. I didn't know if I was going to like it, especially since I had always said "I can't" or "I couldn't." I may not be the best artist out there by any means, but I am confident that I like painting and I'm happy with the new experience that I have discovered.

The fourth component is intrinsic motivation. This is that feeling that you get once you've completed something for the first time and want to try again. After I finished my first painting, I got this voice in my head saying, "If you could do this, why not try another?" That's intrinsic motivation! What keeps you going, sometimes even after failure. I was more interested in painting as I looked at more techniques and ideas out there, I was confident enough in my skills, but I also wanted to challenge myself with something new.

Lastly, the fifth component of creativity is a creative environment. This can be any aspect that encourages and supports you to keep going. It can also give you new ideas. Two parts of my creative environment are Pinterest and my mom. Pinterest still gives me ideas today, sparking my creativity with what I can do myself. My mom supports me and gives me new ideas as well (my mom is very artistic). I contribute my excitement with painting to these two parts of my environment.

That's it! The five components of creativity! Try to find something you would like to try and apply these components to it. Again, there is no measure of creativity! Let your mind run free with ideas!
Next time, we'll be discussing two more theories of intelligence! We're nearing the end of our intelligence topic, I promise! Check back next time! Thanks for reading!