I really enjoyed this article by David Rendall. "Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness" is written to suggest ways to take your weaknesses and make them into awesome other things.
In number 2, "Whats my problem", I found his suggestions to be very valid. I feel like everybody grows up getting told how to fix their "problems". I had a lot of similar "problems" to Rendall, and still do. I think it is definitely beneficial to take away my apparent flaws and find them to be clues to my true strengths. I have not yet found the right fits for ALL my problems, but I can definitely see where some would fit in. I like that Rendall also blatantly tells us that it is good to be a freak, and weaknesses make you a freak. I think the idea of a "freak" is awesome, and often love feeling out of place because of a difference.. It can definitely benefit me to add more creativity to my life. Taking the little problems I have and transforming them into mind builders and creative nick-nacks could add so much to my creative processes, and any other sorts of work I can do. Being loud and obnoxious in class when I was a kid has now let me see it as being not shy and friendly! Many other examples fall into play when thinking about this topic.
In number 5, Rendall writes "Foundation: Build on Your Strengths". He says that our strengths are patterns of passion and proficiency. They are what we love to do. I completely agree with this, and enjoy his suggestion. He suggests that we should take our strengths that we can recognize, and constantly build on them to improve ourselves. He gives building on our strengths reasons like "feeling good". It is enjoyable to work on our strengths. He also states that our well-developed strenghts often make our weaknesses irrelevant. I feel like taking our strengths and building upon them comes quite naturally, especially when they come as compliments. If somebody compliments you on what good work you've done, or something you are talented at, you have motivation to keep working at it, thus building on your strengths. This type of thinking can definitely heighten creativity.
The last point that Rendall wrote that really stuck out to me was his number 8. "Freak: The power of Uniqueness". I think this is a great point and suggestion because it really displays the awesomeness in being unique. He talks about the story being the Leaning tower of Pisa. The building was supposed to be straight, but started to lean even when building it. He notes that this was a very lucky break for the city of Pisa because so many people come to see it and appreciate it because of it's uniqueness. He says that fixing the flaw in the tower would ruin it's uniqueness. He compares this with disorganized geniuses, dyslexic billionaires, famous reindeer and discount retailers. He says that our success is directly related to our uniqueness. I find this to be extremely true. If we were all the same people with no creativity and no uniqueness, what kind of world would it be? Boring. We need to take our uniqueness and given flaws and run with them. We can build upon on our flaws, and discover new points of creativity through them!
As for my strengths and weaknesses as far as the creative process is concerned, I have found many things. My strengths are that I see the beauty in most everything around me. I try to appreciate all forms of art, whether it be a painting, a sculpture, a scenery, or even a building. These are skills that other people possess and I admire. Admiring the other types of art help my creativity flow. I try to mimic other work, and try to use other work to display beauty in my own sometimes. looking at the finer things in life helps me discover new ideas and new ways of art. I think that is a major strength of mine. As far as weaknesses go, I feel that I have a lot. I'm not good at accepting my strenghts, which is obviously necessary to do in order to build upon them. I'm also not good at even having a "creative process"! I just think of an idea and usually roll with it. No process involved. I can't tell if that is a strength or a weakness though. All in all, I feel that my strenghts and weaknesses help me become a better artist. I think acknowledging that being unique is special, and finding beauty in all things is beneficial to not only my creative mind, but to my life in general.
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