To create is to love.
When we let our self drown into a creative process, forget time and place, melt into one with what we create, we seem to need nothing less than just to be in it. This is love.
Creativity is a loose term for ability to make something new, surprising and unprecedented – also for forming processes for instance in arts and crafts. Originally the word was used about solutions of scientific and technical nature.

But today it is used widely on sports performance, artistic works, thinking new in economic, organization, communication, sales, service, handycraft and lifestyle etc.
Creativity is often used along with the word innovation.
Seemingly we don´t always know what we are talking about.

Finding something new and better from something seemingly absurd and put it together in a forced-marriage with something well known banal, is used today as a regular method of innovation in design-educations.

Conscious jumping back and forth between divergent and convergent thinking is used on purpose. Trying without knowing the result and bidding all “mistakes” welcome, is a way to get clarity.
So we know better what works in comparison with something else that seems to be inferior. All “errors” may be doors to great opportunities that we would never be able to find using academic acknowledged convergent thought-paths.

Convergent thinking is characterized by a structured and analytical approach towards a particular goal. Convergent thinking is often about problem solving, no more than one to two solutions is desired. Often it requires a very specific and predefined recipe for success.
Solutions therefore are based on something we already know.
When evolvement stops in a convergent process, there is only to start all over again, because each step is based on the previous one.

In divergent thought processes development follows a spiral or branch. In here many things are in play at same time and it is easy to jump from one branch or twig to another.
It is necessary to “kill-the-darlings” along the road, or at least park them. This works fine, because there are plenty of ideas to choose from, all great ideas need not necessarily to be used. There are plenty ideas in world, each of which can be part of a mental or practical experiment, when we choose it.

We are born with capacity for divergent thinking. Children fantasize without restrictions when they play, they can drive to New York across oceans, transform into butterflies and become suddenly invisible on another planet.

Children build from the available material, where they are at the moment, discover along the process other options and completely different universes, easly fantasizing new ones to sense into.
There is not far from idea to action – children do not have long planning and strategy meetings about business plans and SWOT tests.
Parallel fantasy worlds is for a child just as real as the world their adults consider to be the real.

To where did this ability disappear? Apparently culture, education and social interaction is guilty in the fact that we have lost ability to let ouselves fly and float in creative processes, play and imagine. We need this in future life. Adults entirely dominated by divergent thinking are probably not able to manage through life, we need convergent thinking too. These two ways of thinking have equal value. Future requires that we better manage synthesis, see correlations, exploit not physical visible spaces, context relations and are able to combine known and unknown in new ways.

We must be able also to rethink and redefine ourselves several times during future life, find other opinions with the whole and expand our social intelligence: become more inclusive, embracing and lovable creative together.
It may sound like quite a bit, but we already have what it takes. It is necessary refinding our childhood ability to be creative and think divergently and develop this ability further.
We must try out other roles of ourselves, see ourselves in other social contexts and experiment with new ways to interact with world. Companies and how growth concepts are regarded, are already being redefined.

Not all of us have to be visionary designers, architects, artists, actors, clowns and geeks – some must be able to grasp the fantasies, manifest them physically, help and support. We can all find a role.
Future demands that we in groups across globe or local follow higher common visions which we dedicate ourselves into, giving from our best individual resources – for sake of the whole.

To be creative we must get rid conformity. Even in brainstorming this can be difficult with its rules that it is forbidden to judge and value. The goal is here to get as many ideas as possible to choose, combine and sort from.
Future demands us to get rid of past ideas of what we think is true, real and important. We must realize that many of our educations are outdated, so we must face future with the attitude that we basically know nothing. This is releasing and will for many be a relief. For others this is scary.

Creativity requires openness, curiosity and a childlike mind where all senses and feelings are open in play and we can be wondering instead of finding answers or have answers in advance.

As example we cannot think or calculate convergently to design of a new faucet. Hands must sense how it feels to use it, eyes must examine whether the design is appealing and how. It is necessary to form examples in clay, cardboard, wood or other materials, also to play with water to get new ideas. Actually we can´t “think” a solution, the process is practical involving all of what we are, also senses, feelings and fantasy.

Divergent thinking implies that we find it easy to move perspective. As it happens constantly in children’s play, first you are a cowboy, then the horse, indian or superman – from every role world looks different and we also feel different comfort in each role. Emotions are part of the game and helps to control how the game develops. A naive approach is needed in creativity.

In confidence without being judgmental and evaluative from a learned notion of right and wrong, we find that there are many truths at one time: absurdity and complexity is ruling without us having to control or understand. Nothing is separated as in the “real” world, but in play in a seemingly interconnection: you, me, structure, up, down, colours, material, feelings etc.

To be able to manage in this we must have complete trust in each other. Be accommodating, caring, empathic and honest. How we relate is basic for how we can develop and play.

A creative process can start by reaching for anything coincidently, develop from there and involve all aspects little by little. Creativity is to play and experiment forward in the awareness that it is all serious.
We even have fun doing it.

If we still stick to the conventional, while evolution expands with haste and we need to tackle pollution, increased stress, suicides and complexity in a world, where desire for consumption no longer seems to make sense, we are at risk of getting sick.
“We” means here humanity, all of us. We must let imaginations, fantasy and feelings float free to find new ways towards good lives for all of us.
Children are rarely scared while playing and fantasizing. When they are, it’s part of the game.

We adults may be afraid. It is resisting letting go of control that make us scared of entering the unknown, going out of well known comfortzone. Once we release, allow ourselves to go into the game, it feels easy and well – even thrilling and lovely.
We are attracted to stick to the known, because brain is lazy. It runs around in same old patterns, whether this is good for us or not. Only two things can excite brain to explore new avenues: if we stand on a burning platform or if we have a vision. Relearn brain divergent thinking, it will become exercised to be more flexible. This requires that we as humans are willing to be more flexible in everything – and this will change our life.

Divergent thinking is only part of creativity, not the creative process itself. Convergent thinking, structure and assessment is involved too. So is intuition, being, emotions, sensing, choosing, communication, as well as the ability to combine and relate.

Much creativity is empirical and practical: experiment, do, think, feel, sense, reflect, choose, plan, manifest and evaluate. This over and over again in the process. In creativity we live ourselves into new knowlegde in practice.

Inspiration comes from nowhere and everywhere. Intuitive ideas for visions, directions, solutions and realizations arise often in “the-in-between-zone”. In the quiet intervals between circles of thoughts. Mindfulness and meditation can train mind for more creativity and better contact with intuition. A creative process is to train love in practice.
Creativity is living love.