Creative Tensions

One of the tensions with writing is the need to be solitary and focused whilst still connecting and interacting with the outside world. Creativity demands a capacity to observe and interpret the world in ways that bring a response from the audience. This is true whether the creativity is expressed through acting, writing, painting, sculpting or some other form.
My mother is a very gregarious person who simply loves people of all sorts and enjoys interacting (sometimes to the detriment of her health). She does not think she is very creative, but I suspect that at some point in her life she or someone she looked up to, divided people into  "Pragmatic" and  "Creative" and these two camps were never to be overlapped. My view of things (as a more naturally shy person and more inclined to observation than interaction) is that we are all a mixture of these things and can all learn to express our creativity with the right encouragement, just as we can learn to overcome shyness or self-centredness. What really makes the difference is whether we have sufficient motivation to do so.
For children creativity is as natural as breathing, but they can very quickly lose their motivation to be creative if they do not see value in pursuing it. For adults who have given up on creativity, I think the way to rediscover it is to look at it from a different perspective. Some have a very narrow view: "I can't paint a realistic flower/animal/person therefore I am not creative." There are 2 misconceptions here, first: I can't do it now, therefore I will never be able to; second: art is the only way to express creativity.
Creativity has numerous expressions and provides an additional dimension to seemingly pragmatic tasks. The creative teacher finds ways to repackage a unit of learning so that it appeals to different learning styles; the creative cook finds alternative ingredients to substitute for something unavailable; the creative manager finds ways of involving staff in improving the outcomes of the business; the creative sportsperson devises ways to make training enjoyable. Whatever we spend time doing we can do better if we look at it creatively, playfully, with fresh eyes.