Determination : Recipe for Creativity !!

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda

Determination has been the biggest strength of my parents whether it came to ensuring I had a teacher for dance, or I had the required means and setup to pursue always. Their determination also pushed them to get creative and innovative.

My father used to pick me up from school everyday, buy me a Uttappa or Dosa at the all-time favourite Poornima's in my hometown while he just had a cup of tea, drop me at my class (which was his friend's place with a huge hall where I used to finish my homework and studies and would be watched out by the landlady until my teacher came ☺), ensure Iam settled in and go back to his work. 

Once done with work, both parents would come to dance class and my mother would watch my teacher's dance movements carefully(observation skills, yeah 😉) so that she could correct me once back home (I had to practice after going home once before dinner). 

Around 7.30-8 PM, Dad would then cycle all of us back home which was then about 8-9 kms away. 

If this was the everyday story to ensure I learnt dance well, there was the other side of performances. Since there was no one else who knew or performed classical dances in my hometown, there was absolutely no availability of costumes or jewellery.

Where there is a will, there is a way. Isn't it?

The will, the determination to make their daughter a good dancer was driving my parents. And this determination and the pressing need of the situation, led them to learn and get creative. 

Mom took over to learn stitching costumes and she has made different varieties of costumes for me, and later on for the other girls who started learning classical dance in town. (She still makes them for her grand-daughter now.)

Required resources like the right cloth materials (forget silks), zari borders, were also in short supply pushing her to experiment with what was available.

Especially working on the center fan or frill of the classical costumes meant a lot of trial with different materials, and a lot of ironing to be done by my father to make that beautiful 😀.  (And yeah, my Dad still irons the fans and is very particular it is perfect for his granddaughter 😊 .)  

If Mom was into costume making, Dad dabbled with jewellery. Some pieces of jewellery was made at home, like the beaded hair ornament worn here. Some pieces of jewellery were recreated with other jewellery pieces, eg: The belt used here was made with what was actually hair ornaments. 

It was a lot of ideas being dribbled between them before they made the pieces. They even got themselves to get creative in creating the ghungroo used for dances.

But they always ensured I had what I needed. 

Where there is determination, there is creativity!!!

Yes, It does not matter whether we speak of personal, artistic or professional life or career. If you are determined towards something, you will find ways or get creative to accomplish it.

Determination is the commitment to achieve your goals, regardless of the challenges you might experience. Resolving challenges which at first glance seem to not have solutions, requires innovation and creativity. If you are determined to achieve your goal, you will push yourself to think, explore, learn, and in the process find your own way to resolve the challenge. It pushes you to adapt to the workplace situations, and find ways out. 

Creativity needs that you are open to learn and adapt. Creativity requires that you are ready to collaborate and be open to other ideas floating in too.

Creativity itself needs determination. Creative ideas can be subject to a lot of speculations and push-backs. Ideas may fail in initial attempts. It is important and imperative that then you need to be continuously determined to still pursue your creative thought process, further refining it and finds ways to make it a success. 

As a leader, you may have a determination to achieve a certain goal, deliver a product, create a new market, create something different that itself is an innovative thought. But, as a leader, what you still need is to nurture a team that understands the goal and is also equally determined and pushes itself to be creative to achieve the goal. Pick people with varied skills and passions who can enhance each others thought processes with their own ideas. Continue to appreciate the successes, be open to failure, celebrate the achievements. 

“We will either find a way, or make one.” – Hannibal