Creativity announces itself in different ways. Maybe your creativity thrives in the way you paint, photograph, play music, or tell stories. There are so many ways to manifest creativity that make it such an interesting term to question for all kinds of creators. What is creativity? How do we define it? Maybe a musician defines creativity differently than a photographer or painter. Maybe to a novelist creativity means something entirely different than it does to a scientist or doctor. Here are 21 creators and their honest answers to the question, “What is creativity?”

(Photo by Zachary Leung)

1. “Visualizing something in your head and creating something entirely different, but nonetheless, just as beautiful on the page.” –Val

2. “Wondering whether or not your creation is something others will enjoy, and creating it even if you think the answer is no.” –Tonya

3. “The ability to take your passion, the art your life wouldn’t be the same without and share it with others in a way that communicates exactly what you’re feeling. Then after all of that, to have others relate and think, ‘I feel that too.’ The beautiful thing about creativity is the way it connects us.” –Amelia

4. “Trusting that sometimes the best things happen unplanned.” –Darien

5. “Thinking that what you’ve created is absolute shit or nonsense, stepping back, taking a second look and building something you’re truly proud of…out of that thing you originally had no faith in whatsoever.” –Tyler

6. “Not allowing the fear of judgment to keep you from creating.” –Daniella

7. “Creating things for yourself and your own catharsis, but then seeing that it provides that same relief for others. It’s kind of amazing. Your own catharsis becomes someone else’s.” –Hallie

8. “The very strange things that become the effect of your unique (and unusual) imagination.” –Michael

9. “The thing that most artists think they never have enough of.” –Sara

10. “Striving for perfection, not obtaining it, and realizing whatever you’re left with feels way better than perfection ever could.” –Gio

11. “Not understanding where exactly your thought, emotion, or inspiration came from, or why you discovered it, but seeing others react to it in remarkable ways. Tears, smiles, laughter, arguments, whatever the reaction, your creativity initiated that. And that’s powerful.” –Anna

12. “The ability to connect the dots inside your crazy mind to somehow create a result you’re actually happy with.” –Molly

13. “Believing that inspiration can happen anywhere and trust it when it does.” –Weston

14. “The feeling of frustration when you can’t express this one thing you’re seeing or feeling and then the feeling of complete satisfaction when you finally get it out of your head and into something tangible.” –James

15. “When you connect your senses and blend them with your thoughts in a way that makes one understand the other.” –Emile

16. “Making your vision a reality.” –Laura

17. “The ability for all of us to express ourselves and our art differently from one another.” –Adam

18. “Understanding how to navigate your ideas and turn them into something that leaves other people speechless.” –Robert

19. “Creativity is that thing you try really hard to master, and then when you’re not trying at all it just happens.” –Lacey

20. “It’s a lot like love. It’s really frustrating and confusing, but when it works it feels like magic.” –Christina

21. “It’s the cliché and modest way artists refer to their own pure genius abilities.” — Marcus