Andre discussed the importance of building a relationship with a mentor in your professional life, as they can become invaluable learning resources and foundations for a growing network. One other area that a mentor can help with is developing your creative pursuits.
Not too long ago, I sat down with an artist and asked her about what she was working on. The conversation moved around a bit, as there were so many things going on, but I couldn’t help but notice how many times the projects she mentioned involved working with other creatives who had already done something similar before.
It dawned on me a bit later that these creatives were her mentors and that the work she was trying to accomplish, although quite creative, wasn’t entirely unique. Most of the time we think of being creative as the result of dreaming up something that has never been seen before. While those types of moments are surely the result of some creative thinking, that’s not the only way creativity manifests itself in your world.
In other cases, creativity is more about finding the best existing solution or approach to a problem, and applying it perhaps in a way that wasn’t the initial intention. So, when a moment comes up at work or in your life where you need to solve a complex problem, a creative solution might be one you’ve seen work time and time again in another type of situation.
Utilizing creatives as mentors in this capacity is extremely helpful, as these are people who, even if they haven’t gone through your exact challenges, have been in similar situations and understand how to work with you to encourage your creativity to blossom.
Over the next couple of weeks, I encourage you to look around for other creatives who might be able to help your endeavors become more than they currently are. Wherever they stand now, whether that’s in your head as a pretty interesting idea, or out on paper ready to be acted upon, find a mentor to help you make it your reality.
This person will be more than willing to lend their time, energy, and perhaps even connections to assist you for free. We spend so much money as a society on formal education, it’s quite refreshing to learn that some people out there are just interested in helping you become the best you. Utilize this opportunity (once you’ve made it happen) to build on their knowledge and your creative ideas to make something glorious happen.
Yes, we are were we are in all fields today – from science and technology to music production and dance – because of expanding upon the ideas of those “before.” I might just add that if you’re going to seek to benefit from a mentor, determine to be one to someone, as well. We all know less – and more – than someone else.
This is a thought-provoking post fro everyone who reads it. We should all look for other creatives, but also people who are more creative than us. It is when we pinpoint these people, examine their work, and spend time with them, we can then learn new ideas and techniques from them.