I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) daily creative prompt challenge for December and today, the task she asks us to do is:

“Today I would like you to reflect on your own creative identity and your relationship with that: how do you perceive yourself to be creative?”

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She asks us to think about it in context of something else. That is, if our imagination was an animal, a book, a TV show or food, what would it be and why?

So here goes.

My Creative Identity

I would imagine my creative identity as a old, dusty, forgotten book that is wedged behind a full book shelf filled with new and exciting best sellers, popular reading and glossy picture books that everyone wants to – and prefers to read.

My book is a bit tattered, looking a bit worse for wear and dated. It was put on the shelf some years ago when it was new but over the years, people picked it up, read the back cover, scanned some of its contents quickly, got an idea or two out of it and then put it back on the shelf to move onto nicer looking books. Ones that would look nicer on their bookshelves. Ones written by people who seem to be richer and more successful.

Over the years, some people may have bought the book and marvelled at the ideas that were in it and pondered how they could do the same themselves but life got in the way. The book always found its way back onto a shelf and over the years got further behind on it until it was wedged in between the wall and shelves and forgotten about. Gathering dust and mould over the years.

Every so often, someone comes along who likes to dig around and move books about. They find my creative identity and they pull and prod it out of its hiding place, dust it off and open it up to read. They see my value and then they place it at the front where I can see the light a bit and get a bit of fresh air. I am reinspired. I create because they have encouraged me and believe that I have something to share to the world.

Until they too move on, and over time, I find myself at the back wedged up against the wall and the shelf.