Right brain hemisphere. Left brain hemisphere. Creative versus logical. Albert Einstein was right when he said:

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

I read an interesting article this morning via Harvard Business Review on how to think creatively. I’ve never consciously worked at it in such a way; I like the mystery of being inherently creative. Perhaps it’s because I love the process, so I don’t think of it as work. But as I start to deconstruct it, demystify it, yep – it feels like work. Creating images to sustain a career is hard work. It’s the difference between something being a hobby vs. a profession, perhaps.

I think the challenge, to get back to my original point, is producing something that grows from imagination and creativity, such as the professional dancer that spends her entire life training in the art of ballet, building her body, form and skill to the point of expression that is art as well as a profession. But only because of her own conviction, not because her parents co-erced her into it during childhood, and as a young adult she felt she had no other choice but to follow through (Have you read Andre Agassi’s auto-biography? One of tennis’ superstars; he hated tennis).

The thing is, as history has shown time and time again, the arts are elusive and appreciated in different forms at different times. How many artists became famous years after they passed away. How many are famous in the now?

I remember years ago I learned there is a difference between creating and being creative. It’s been said anybody can learn to be creative, and anybody can create. I disagree. I think, however, that is a topic for a different day. If I allow myself to follow through on the creative flow that is starting to take place as I write, I’ll lose track of time and will write thousands of words, when all I intended was to share a photograph of a wonderful boy I photographed. I’m working on, or should I say “creating” wall art that will be displayed in my client’s home.

As I do for many of my consumer clients, I make an image or two from our session available for licensing. Who knows, maybe the above image may end up in a parenting or schooling publication, and be a launching pad for, well… who knows. When I look at the boy’s image, I see an entire lifetime to look forward to.