Sparking Creativity

I would consider myself a “Type A” personality. I was the typical girl in school with my calendar filled and my agenda full. When given an assignment I would carefully look over the requirements and fulfill them. I liked Math because it had a format. I would be given a problem and instructed to use a formula to find a solution. So how I found myself as a journalist, where there is no format or rules, (well I’ve been told you must learn the rules only to break them,) often has me in question.

I should have known what was in store for me when I was at Gonzaga University studying Broadcast. My professor, Dan Garrity, would rarely hand out a syllabus. I recall many discussions with him about why I would receive a B in his class; how could I know how better to perform if I wasn’t given the requirements?

When I got into work yesterday I was told I needed to head to Wilmington, Ohio, where Governor Kasich would be giving his State of the State address later that evening. The city was climbing the economic ladder of recovery, after DHL U.S. Express left its distribution hub there in 2008, eliminating about 7,000 people’s jobs in the city. I needed to capture how the city was growing again and I had no guidelines on how to get it done.

About a year ago when I was at the gym, two little boys ran out of the day care facility. “Mommy, they are watching 'Veggie Tales'!” they expressed in horror. The mom then shared with me and the few other women at the gym that she didn’t let her kids watch “things that weren’t real.”

(For those unfamiliar, "Veggie Tales" is a kid's cartoon featuring talking vegetables.)

I am often amazed at the work of my photographs and the vision they have. Creativity is not my strong suit. However, the more opportunities I receive to be creative the more I fall in love with it. I was proud of the piece that I put together for my Wilmington story. Sometimes I think I am just excited that I was able to come up with something out of nothing.

Creativity fosters innovation and art. I now see how lucky I have been to have people like Professor Garrity, who pushed me into uncomfortable places which has been the growth of a characteristic I didn’t know I could possess. I only hope that those little boys see that things “unreal” can be made real with a little imagination.

#Creativity #imagination