Creativity and Identity: How They Merge

By Mo Hill, Creative Corner Editor

Creativity is one of the core parts of being human; we all have it to some degree. Creativity has led to thousands of inventions, artwork and various other things. Ranging from music to paintings to the laptop that this is being written on, creativity has had an effect on all of it. However, our creativity coincides heavily with our identities. Our various life experiences and upbringings have had an impact on everyone’s identity, no matter how big or small they may be. 

Senior and fellow staff member for The Griffin, Sophie Asher, briefly spoke about what parts of her identity and upbringing have affected her: “As a kid, my cousin and I would make and edit music videos and upload them to YouTube. I think we were on the internet a little too early, but that exposure helped spark my interest in DMA (digital media arts). I also took a digital art class in high school and I enjoyed it a lot. Now I’m going into marketing and I get to use my creativity in that field.” 

Everyone has their own unique experiences and backgrounds that influence their identity and, therefore, how they express themselves creatively. Senior DMA student Sergio Colunga described how his background and experiences have influenced the ways he expresses himself creatively: “My creativity is tied to the things that I’ve done all my life, which includes a lot of video games. I think they’re an important space for creative children to start expressing themselves. The first game that comes to mind is Minecraft. In terms of a game like that, I think that creativity has less to do with the game modes you can play but more about how you can express yourself in those modes. When growing up, you might not be able to express yourself in a certain moment, but video games can provide an outlet to express yourself in other ways.”

I also had various experiences that influenced my identity and allowed me to express myself. In high school, I was introduced to digital media and photography, and those two things have had a very large influence on who I am as a person and the direction I took in life. I was never very good with physical media like painting or drawing, but I had several different experiences with digital art and production that allowed me to express myself in various ways.  Those experiences have since stuck with me and have influenced the path I have traveled on and continue to travel on. 

Even if one is not a creative individual in a traditional sense, interests such as listening to music, watching movies or even playing video games are all influential enough to help develop our identities. Each piece of creative work that we interact with has an influence on our personalities and interests as a whole – even our own upbringing has effects on how we express ourselves creatively, whether it is noticeable or not.