Creativity is not a skill. It's a way of life: where the brain and the heart join forces. It's where the mind wanders free with no inhibitions, no limitations, but the heart lassos it back home, concentrating on the things most important to you. Any form of creative expression, be it theatre, literature, or even technological, allows one to break free from the bonds of our fast-moving and pressurized reality into a peaceful and tranquil world of its own— resulting in a product that represents one’s own thoughts and emotions. Scholars all over the world talk about the benefits of creativity. So if creativity is so important to us, then how a community implants this thought process in every young child's mind is of paramount importance. And thankfully in my community, creativity and creative thinking lurks behind every corner of my life.

School is one of the most important parts of my life. And our school has done a remarkable job blossoming the buds of creativity. We have numerous processes in our school that ensure we are exposed to a variety of creative expressions. In one course, called studio arts, various experts of different creative genres teach us all those skills and how to express ourselves creatively through their particular medium. It ranges from performing arts, like theatre and dance, to more physical arts, like industrial design and crafting. This course really helped me see the diversity of creativity, and how there are a number of ways we can be creative. The fact that our school dedicated one and a half hour slots during the day to this class demonstrates a strong commitment to the arts. It showed me that creativity is not just an extracurricular activity or an after-class pastime. The course taught us how to solve problems and think outside of the box, all of which are skills that we need to apply in our lives in a big way.

Aside from school, my family encourages creativity in a big way, too, in the form of coding and computer science. Coding and computer science are often overlooked when talking about creativity, but their role in developing creativity is no less than other mediums. In coding and computer science, one can create virtually anything one wants by just learning a few simple methods. The possibilities are endless and what you do and how you do it completely depends on you. Coming from a technological background, with my father in the IT field, I've always been encouraged to delve into the world of computers and create something of my own: be it a proprietary algorithm, or simply a really fun video game. And from that I've learned that no creative output is better than another, simply because there is no way to compare. Every output is different and the best in its own sense. Comparing would defeat the purpose.

So my community does encourage creativity in a big way. I’m thankful for that. In a society seems to be growing into a monotonous, monochrome world, creativity is what gives us a fresh breath of air and sets us apart from others. We must go against our very nature to follow the herd. So come on. This was my creative expression. Now it’s your turn. Live the creative way of life!