Fotografia: Raquel Félix

Conheci a Raquel há alguns anos, através de uma amiga comum. Há quase dois anos atrás, a Raquel fundou a plataforma Portugalize.me e contactou-me para colaborar com ela, uma vez por semana. Começámos por nos aproximar pela paixão que ambas temos pelo que é bom e bem feito em Portugal e por portugueses, e a amizade foi crescendo.

A Raquel, psicóloga de profissão, empreendedora de paixão, tem uma visão muito interessante de criatividade, que estou desejosa de partilhar convosco. Assim sendo, não me alongo e deixo-vos com as palavras da Raquel.

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Falar de criatividade.

Ela é ampla, pessoal e expressa-se de forma diferente em cada um de nós. A criatividade não é exclusiva de alguns. Não pertence a ninguém em particular e no entanto é de todos, porque todos, sem excepção temos essa capacidade… a de criar. Criamos porque nos relacionamos, pensamos, sentimos, vivemos.

Nos dias que correm a criatividade ganhou um lado tangível omnipotente e castrador de outras vertentes que lhe são inerentes. A criatividade não é apenas dos artistas, dos publicitários ou marketeers (quais “criativos” da contemporaneidade que se alapam ao conceito como sendo propriedade privada e dom conferido por obra do espírito santo).

Desenganem-se os que se apoderam desta “marca não registrada” e aqueles que acham não ter a mínima hipótese no que toca a serem criativos. A criatividade não é apenas uma coisa que se materializa em obra externa.

Quando estamos perdidos nos nossos pensamentos, numa espécie de sonho acordado, estamos a criar sentidos próprios ou não (por vezes surgem coisas sem sentido, mesmo assim, uma criação possível, a possível).

A criatividade “trabalha-se”, “alimenta-se”, é processo.

Divagar por dentro é um acto criativo. Falar é um acto criativo. Brincar é um acto criativo. Viver é um acto de criação em si, constante.Tudo isto nós sabemos fazer, sem ter de fazer disto profissão, sem a pressão da tangibilidade.

No dia em que a criatividade for apenas para alguns, ai de nós, ai da nossa humanidade.

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Obrigada, Raquel!

Podem encontrar a Raquel no seu site ou no Portugalize.me, que aconselho sigam atentamente, já que a Raquel partilha diariamente novas razões para acreditarmos que Portugal faz bem e tem futuro.

Este texto faz parte do projecto Creativity Series, onde peço a amigos que partilhem a sua definição de “criatividade”. Gostaria de participar? Escreva-me um mail. Para receber estes posts na sua caixa de correio, clique aqui.

This week, we read Paulo Romeiro’s view of Creativity. I’m excited to share his view with you, because his professional background is in Business – not Arts related at all! But I agree with him: creativity is not exclusive of the arts, creativity is about something else.

Thank you, Paulo, for sharing your view!

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I do not work in an area related to art, architecture or design, but I consider myself a very creative person.

For me, creativity is the ability to find solutions to a problem.

Unfortunately I feel that creativity is too associated with having original ideas, to invent something that did not exist before, to make a revolution in a specific department, to make a big innovation; and while true, it does not occur often.

I work in Business management and use creativity to create solutions for solving problems. I focus on providing value to our customers, satisfying a specific need or solving a problem they have. All this by providing good quality product/service, at a competitive cost, with good financial return. It’s easier said than done and requires a lot of problem solving.

And when our customers are satisfied, repurchases our product and recommends our product to their friends, family and colleagues, originality does not matter. What matters is that their problem was solved.

This (solving a problem) might be by bringing something from one country to another (exporting Via Verde to the world), might be doing what others are doing better (H3 vs. McDonalds) or indeed creating a revolution by looking to a category from a new perspective (iPhone).

So any person that is solving problems is a creative person, because he or she is creating a solution.

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Thank you, Paulo!

Paulo works as a Business and Team Leader; in his spare time, he loves skiing, cooking and playing musical instruments. And… he’s also my husband!

Want to have a say? Comment below or send me an email with your view.

This post is part of my Creativity Series project, where I ask friends, on and offline, how they define creativity. Would you like to receive these posts in your inbox? Sign up for email updates. And let me know if you want to participate!

Photo: Janet Echelman’s “1:26”, photo taken by Paula Rainha

I’m so happy to share what Paula Rainha, my long time friend, current studio mate, and lighting designer extraordinaire has to say about creativity.

Paula has many talents: she’s a dancer, a traveler, an architect and also a story-teller. Paula has an eye to spot the story where no one else would see it, and the blog she kept while living in London, a few years ago, is a great example.

In 2011, Paula won a worldwide competition that took her around the globe, blogging about light. You can read her articles here.

Paula, thank you for being part of the Creativity Series!

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I’m an architect by profession, a dancer by heart and a lighting designer by addiction. Does that make me a creative person? According to most of you, yes, but before becoming a ‘professional creative’ I have the impression I was always attracted to the feeling of creating something and becoming satisfied seeing things happen through me.

I lost track of moments I thought I wasn’t creative and looking at the amount of people that have told me they weren’t creative, I’m probably not the only one.

But I was wrong, looking back I realised that there were many little creative moments that lead to what I am today: imagining stories with my dolls, building up cities with legos, playing in the sand with buckets and scoops, baking cakes, dancing, drawing, cooking or travelling.

I came to the conclusion that each one of us has an inner creativity. The moment you step out of the door in the morning, you were already creative. You had to choose what to wear or you had to decide what to have for breakfast, amongst the infinite possibilities of cereals and toasts. And what is most surprising is that just this small inspired moment can actually make your day different.

Creativity can be found in the most unexpected daily details but can also be found on the way each one of us faces life: the way you deal and connect with people, how do you address and solve your daily problems, how open you can be to new and different points of view and how do you tell your life story.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that what makes someone creative is not the ability to draw or to design but the capacity of making each day different. And now my question is, have you made your day different today?

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Thank you, Paula!

Paula is a lighting designer working globally from her hometown of Lisbon, Portugal. You can find her online on her portfolio site or connect with her via Twitter.

This post is part of my Creativity Series project, where I ask friends, on and offline, how they define creativity. Would you like to receive these posts in your inbox? Sign up for email updates. And let me know if you want to participate!