What do you think creativity is? Is creativity the phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created?

To me, the capacity to be creative is one of the most important characteristics that we humans possess. Whether we are creating a “new” idea or a piece of art, the process draws upon all the knowledge and experiences that we have within us. But it is challenging to sit down and say, “Okay, now I am going to be creative.” How often does a solution pop into your mind when doing something mundane or repetitive? At that time, your mind and imagination are free, and you are receptive to new ideas or solutions. Patterns are visible to you in a different way than before.

Is the creative process different for a scientist than for an artist? As an earth scientist, you take pieces of information, hopefully factual, and put them together to form a theory about a new play or lead that you can test. As artists, we try to take what we know about materials, forms, and colors and make something that will evoke emotions in others. The process is similar. The outcome can be spectacularly different.