STAY CREATIVE—INTRODUCING ASIO CREATIVE
When I was a kid, I loved being it (creative) and seeing it (creativity).
Something inside me ignited at the simple stories of Saturday mornings, my half-hour heroes. Tales of superpowers and silly songs. Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. A talking cartoon dog with a speech impediment solving mysteries with an unsupervised group of hippy teenagers.
Inspired, my brother and I would spend most days acting out our own fantastic dramas involving wild worlds and incredible characters. Like the nameless story-tellers of our youth, we too wanted to create something.
In school, recess would often consist of me sketching derivative characters or designing my own signature Nikes (Air Drews ®). The margins of my notebooks intended for math and science overflowed with doodles and fancy fonts. The corners of novels were perfect for creating flipbooks and I loved any creative writing assignment.
I even wrote a few chapters of a book with my mom when I was about 9. (It was a complete knock-off of Star Wars called Star Defender ©.) No matter what I was up to, creating seemed to be at the center.
I bet if most of you really thought about it, the same was true for you. Whether you played out elaborate soap operas with your toys or imagined making the game winning shot while shooting in your driveway (Kobe!), creativity was involved. (Raise your hand if you ever invented a new version of tag or created your own board game with your siblings.)
In many ways, the most creative population in our world are children. And it doesn’t take much to figure out why. Think about how much we celebrate and encourage creativity in our kids. But, for many of us, somewhere along the way, with waning encouragement and unfair comparison, that creative spark faded along with our freckly faces and cute lisps.
For me, that light was slowly smothered by the unsettling hunch that my creative expression was a disappointment to my dad (an incredible painter in his own right). Whatever was left was stamped out by some unfair things that happened to me in my latter childhood.
That part of me was dying and, rather than fight to revive it, I decided that burying it was the best option.
Now, I am not claiming we all have an amazing artist buried inside us somewhere. We all have different gifts and not everyone is called to vocational creativity. It was good for you to discover that you would in fact not be the next Beyonce. (“I am always Beyonce.” -Michael Scott)
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But could it be that creativity is not and has never been about who is the most creative? What if our unique creativity actually is something that is a part of who we are, as much as a fingerprint or our family history?
As an adult, my creativity had the habit of unearthing itself in little ways here or there. I loved the rare occasion of others noticing it, but largely I relegated its practice to the shadows so as not to disturb or annoy anyone with it.
That was true until Grad School, when a professor of mine assigned a project that required me to write a poem or short allegory. Though outwardly I protested, that secret spark inside me flashed.
Once I started, there was no looking back. My allegorical poem poured out of me as I ventured far beyond my page requirement. Even after I was forced to turn in the assignment, I continued the story just for kicks. The whole process reminded me of someone far more fun and hopeful, someone I had buried much earlier in life.
There was a tug on my heart to dig up my creativity and see if that part of me could be resuscitated. In the process I discovered something profound. Truth was, I had always hoped that my creativity would be something that made me look more like my dad, that somehow it would connect me to a man I struggled to connect with my whole life.
Instead it was revealed that this part of me actually was a way that I look like God. That I inherited my creativity from my creator and not anyone else. The one from which creativity stems offers to me—and you… and everyone else—the opportunity to share in this incredible gift.
And that is the thing about creativity, it is not something you have or don’t have. It is more something to be smothered or cultivated. Creativity is a part of what it means to be human.
It is my belief that a creative world is a better world. It is where problem solving is birthed and hope is offered in the darkest of situations. It is what spurs us on to dream of a better world and helps us fathom how to make that dream a reality.
Now I’d be lying if I told you that Asio grew from this pure of a place. I wanted to make money doing something I was gifted in and loved to do, so I chose writing. But as I have thought long on what I want this organization to stand for and really be about, encouraging creativity is only surpassed by my hope to love better. (Something I struggle with like the rest of us).
The truth is everyone is creative (yes everyone). It is just a matter of how. Some of us paint, others are carpenters. Some create incredible meals and atmospheres, while others create innovate business strategies. Designers, decorators, and fashionistas. Whatever it is, real creativity is about the joy of being your true self. Humanity's creativity can only be boxed in by our own fear, comparison, or misunderstanding.
So the question is, how have you buried your creativity? How have you written yourself off as a less-than or non-creative? What would it look like for you to create just for the sake of being you? For the sake of being who you were created to be?
That’s what I want Asio Creative to be about. Doing our part to help foster a more creative world.
Stay creative ladies and gentlemen,
Drew Tilton
Lead Creator, Founder
Asio Creative
