If You Have These 11 Unique Traits, You're Probably An Extremely Creative Person
Creatives move through life a little differently.
Ekateryna Zubal via Shutterstock As a creative person, I've had a slightly different life than my other friends who have walked a more traditional path. I can't tell you how many times people have stared at my resume thinking, "That's interesting," or called me into a job interview just to see who I was. Extremely creative people just seem to have some unique traits that intrigue people.
To some people, the way I think is strange and to others, it's the only way to think. By "others", I mean other highly creative people. I guess you could say there's a collective of us artists and some folks get us, but others think we're unstable. And perhaps maybe we are.
11 unique traits of extremely creative people — the good, the bad and the ugly
1. You do embarrassing things (and usually for free)
When I started stand-up comedy, it wasn't unusual to spot me outside a comedy club "barking" — or, in other words, shouting out and wrangling in strangers to see a comedy show in which I'd get stage time and perform for five minutes for free.
It wasn't the most fun thing I have done in my life, but it had to be done for stage time and is a comedian's rite of passage. To the average Joe Schmoe, this would be ridiculous, but to a highly creative person, it's just one of the many things you do to perfect your craft.
Of course, there was the time I did a public service announcement and "rapped" it. Yes, rapped, but at least I got paid for doing it and scored an entryway into the actor's union.
2. You have endless ideas
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In my inbox, I've got about 90 different pitch ideas. It's not unusual for me to pause a conversation because I've got to write down an idea. It's not unusual for me to ask my friends for "quotes."
Highly creative people have these inboxes, folders, journals, and sketch pads full of ideas that we whip out whenever the moment hits us, as supported by a study in Gifted Child Quarterly.
3. You occasionally offend people
Unlike a school teacher, nurse, or lawyer, a highly creative person occasionally offends friends or their family with that creative work. Why? Well, it's mostly accidental, but sometimes a breakup, divorce, fight, or injury comes into an article, photo, or song.
What can we say? Life inspires us and it's how a highly creative person copes, as discussed by an article in The Journal of Aesthetic Education. As my marriage slowly and painfully disintegrated, my heart flooded to the paper or web, so to speak, and infiltrated my comedy routine.
Your friend might grab a beer when his wife leaves him, but you, the creative person, break out your camera or whatever other artistic tool suits your mood.
4. You are a life-long fighter against being underpaid
For some reason, people like to take advantage of artists. Ad after ad states, "No compensation but exposure to people! Gain experience!"
Does anyone else work for free? I'm pretty sure most doctors, nurses, teachers, janitors, computer techs, and so on, all expect to get paid for their work; yet somehow, a painting, piece of writing, photo, song, jingle, makeup artistry job, and other artistic endeavors are all supposed to be from the bottom of our good hearts.
Thanks, but no thanks. Any work is work, whether it's artistic or manual labor.
5. You can turn a bad situation into personal gain
A bad date or boyfriend sucks for anyone, even an artist, but the highly creative person can make gold out of the crappiest situations. Think of all the famous creative people you know and I bet you that 90 percent of their successes stemmed from an unfortunate situation.
So, be careful, you might end up as a character in our next novel.
6. You slowly wear down from mundane routine
We all get tired of ruts and routines, but a desk job or corporate gig can suck the soul from a creative person's heart in about three seconds flat. What the average everyday person finds as just another day is "a day of torture" for the highly creative soul.
7. You have great skills nobody cares about
I studied literature, writing, and gender in college. Does anyone in the real world care? Nope. People in the adult world care about Microsoft Office and spreadsheets, not portrait-painting skills or vocal scales.
Being a highly creative person often means being endowed with skills that no one but our small center of the universe appreciates.
8. Your ideas don't come to fruition until years later
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An accountant can finish his job in a decent amount of time. A doctor can finish surgery that day. Could you imagine if your divorce lawyer said he needed to get inspiration on how to handle your case, and then, fifteen years later, you finally ended up divorcing? I don't think so.
An artist can take a gazillion years to finish one painting. Highly creative people have a timeline that's usually dictated by our creative juices and our adult life responsibilities.
9. You choose your passion over any dull job every time
Some of us are lucky to make a living doing what we love; another small percentage is lucky to do something similar to what we love. And still, the majority of us do something we don't like, all to pay the bills.
Hey, it's hard to make a living writing poetry, sculpting, or playing guitar. We know this and accept this. For those of us who do what we love for a living, we know how blessed we are.
10. You always try to improve
A book, a song, or a photograph — something could be fixed. It's never quite right or finished. Infuriating and annoying? Yes, but that's life for us. A general openness to improvement and discovery was cited as a key factor in creative individuals by an analysis in the Creativity Research Journal.
11. You are easily moved to tears
Some people call you dramatic, some call you emotional, but we prefer "passionate."
Certified life coach Lisa Petsinis described the highly sensitive person (HSP). "Being a highly sensitive person means you have an innate temperament trait (not a disorder), in which you are acutely affected by your environment, and you have highly attuned senses. If you're an HSP, you feel very deeply. You experience other people's pain as if it were your own. So, if you tear up at the mere mention of somebody's loss or when coming across an old photo, don't sweat it. Think of it as your special gift."
A song or dance could instantly move us to tears. Why? Well, perhaps highly creative people's emotions run deeper than the rest of the planet's. Pass the tissues!
Laura Lifshitz writes about divorce, relationships, parenting, and marriage for YourTango, The New York Times, Women’s Health, Working Mother, and Pop Sugar.