You might think that creativity is a form of creating something out of nothing, or out of something insignificant. It might seem like that from the outside, especially if we don’t take the time to ask the creative about their creative process.
What we don’t see when something creative happens is all of the preparation. As a creative, every single moment is preparation for every creative endeavour possibly in front. When a creative creates, we see the materials available, nothing else.
A creative creates something not out of nothing, but out of all of their experiences. When creating, memories, competencies and inspiration is skimmed through like an AI skims the internet if allowed.
When that skimming is done, they’ll bring out the most relevant parts, and create out of that.
We can’t possibly see all of those bits and pieces of information that the creative skims. On top of that, we won’t ever see the practice in their own creative process. We might see the results of the creative process along the way, seeing the creatives’ paintings up until the masterpiece. But not the process.
If you want to create something out of nothing, start gathering things to create with. Because there never is nothing for a creative.