The character trait for this month is creativity.

Creativity is thinking about a situation, a task, or an idea in a new way.

It’s easy to believe that creativity is an elusive trait reserved for artists, musicians, or writers. But creativity is so much more than that.

Creativity is what happens when you combine experience with imagination, practical needs with wishful thinking, a probable impossibility that overcomes an improbable possibility.

There is no single formula for creativity, but there are some common ingredients. In the brilliant words of the great theologian Ted Lasso, “Be curious, not judgmental.”

Creativity begins with curiosity, an active attempt to explore the world you think you know and experience the undiscovered country of the worlds you’ve not yet seen: to humbly set aside your preconceived notions and risk failing in a forward direction.

Creativity is amplified as we become vulnerable enough to share our ideas with others, receive constructive criticism, stand resolved in the face of those who are unwilling or unable to see what we see and listen closely to the voices of wisdom all around us. Through collaboration, a creative idea matures and grows until it’s no longer simply my idea but our creativity refined and perfected until we create something together that makes all our lives better.

With a little practice, anyone can be creative. I’ve always thought of practice as the systematic process of overcoming a series of small failures.

I’m a musician at heart, so I’ve spent a lot of time practicing. I can read music, but I prefer to just play. I enjoy making up the music as I go. It looks and sounds like I’m really creative. But what you can’t see, just under the surface, are all the patterns I’ve learned in the past, the failures I’ve overcome, the instruction of my teachers, and all the practice that creates the illusion that I play with effortless inspiration.

Creativity is bigger than inspiration. It’s what happens when the disciplines of patience, humility, practice, and devotion meet imagination. They combine to make us all something more.

I want to show you one example.  This is 86th Street in Owasso, looking west. That building used to be the First Baptist Church of Owasso. Today, it’s known as El Tequila Baptist Church. Where you and I see a grassy field, someone else saw a thriving neighborhood and community park. They shared that idea with builders, and bankers, and a city with a vision.

Today, it’s the neighborhood where I live. Inside that neighborhood is Elm Creek Park, a place for families to play.

Someone saw that playground and thought, “That’s nice. What if we could do better?”  This is the playground today.

Not long ago, my son, Dawson, was walking through that park. He saw something I’d never seen and shared it with me.

It’s creativity that gave people in our community—our City Council, City staff, business and community leaders—the kind of vision that built a park that inspired my son to share a small part of the beauty he sees in his world.

Today, let’s be curious, not judgmental. Let imagination and inspiration meet practice, patience, and humility and let’s dream up something today that makes tomorrow something beautiful for everyone.

See gallery below for additional photos