In the fall of 2017, I was lucky enough to be one of Carolyn Coal’s students in her Introduction to Advertising class, and not only did she inspire me to dive into the world of advertising, she also encouraged me to embrace my creative side and say “yes” to those little ideas that I would normally say “no” to. In the above TEDx Talk, she discusses these seeds of creativity in detail, describing her journey from her initial inspiration to the creation of a documentary. She asks the audience if they have had their own seeds of creativity, and if so, what did they say?

Like most people, I’ve constantly had ideas on the backburner, with very few ever seeing the light of day. Back in my youth, I was much better about writing down these ideas and not letting them slip away before I forgot them. Most were short story or novel ideas, so I could quickly write a chapter or synopsis, and then save it as a document on my computer, not to be opened again until another spark hit me. While I was great at developing characters, I was terrible with the follow-through on actually working on said novels-in-progress. As Coal mentioned, I always found I was too busy or had better things to do, sometimes even believing that someone else would be able to write my story better. Though I do love the challenge of turning an idea into a story, more often than not, I’d hit a writer’s block and just stop completely, assuming I’d come back to it some other time.

While I’m still extremely busy (and in all honesty, I do have far more important things I should work on), I’m trying to make more time for the little things that inspire me. Whether it’s a fiction novel based on the peasantry during the French Revolution, or a wall made up of all the album art in my record collection, I need to go back to those seeds of creativity and help them grow into the trees they were meant to be.

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Tabitha Butler

There is unbelievable power in your words, so use your powers wisely. If you need a little help, you can reach me at tabithabutler27@gmail.com.

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