Creative Confidence: Having the freedom and courage to fail/take creative risks and the knowledge that all of the ideas you create have value.
I think one of the most significant contributions social media has made in our society is in providing EVERYONE a platform in which to be creative, I’ll even go so far as to say a platform that forces us to be creative.
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and so many others, by their very nature (whether the tool is directly about creativity or not), ask us to create every time we log in.
Every post, tweet, photo, list, caption, share, like — all of it — is a creation.
Never before have we had such an opportunity or invitation for self-expression. Before the internet, and especially before social media, creating publicly was an endeavor left to artists, writers, chefs, interior designs and the like – whether professional or amateur. But today, with our Facebook and Twitter accounts open on our computer screens, we’ve leveled the creative playing field.
In the last post on creative confidence, we talked about fully living as a path to greater creative expression. How creating a full, rich that’s life packed with discovery and learning organically triggers our creative selves.
Social media accomplishes something similar.
If we have the guts to have an account on any number of social media tools (which even the shyest of us usually do), we have an organic, natural way to BE creative. You could say:
Social media is a silent champion for creative self expression and confidence.
Social media doesn’t ask us to be creative. It doesn’t demand it. And it doesn’t judge our contributions.
It simply gives us the space.
Space to play and explore; to be curious and to experiment. Even more, space to receive kudos from others and to give them. In social media, we might actually show love and support others more often and more openly than we do IRL, and perhaps in a much more direct and meaningful way.
Think about it:
What emotions spring up within you when someone “likes” a photo of yours or a comment you made? How does it feel when someone shares something you posted?
IT FEELS GOOD. It feels affirming.
We may not talk about this aspect of social media, but, boy, is it there – and thank goodness! Because of it, countless people have felt creative for the first time. So, if we become conscious of what we’re doing on social media (creating) and conscious of how we are growing as creative beings as we use these platforms, we can intentionally use social media to build our creative confidence even further.
Notice your creativity around the social media tools you use now – and think about the ways in which you are being creatively courageous, taking creative risks and championing other people’s creativity.
If you’re not a big “liker” or re-tweeter or sharer already, give it a try, knowing that you’re celebrating another person’s creative confidence when you do.
If you usually play it safe when you share, challenge your self-imposed limits just a little and really put yourself and your creations out there.
Just like looking at fully living as a path to achieving greater creativity and creative confidence organically, you can see social media in the same way. If you do, you’ll become more aware of the ways in which you are already being so magnificently and wonderfully creative.
Not to mention, all the ways in which you are opening yourself up to the genius that’s already all around you … because:
At its core, social media is about creating connection. But what we are connecting through is our creativity and our creations.
If you spend even just a little time thinking about this, your sense of your inherent creativity and your sense of your EXISTING creative confidence, might just skyrocket.
Your proof is your posts.
To “forced” self-expression in the digital world.