“I walk into a white room.”
So begins Twyla Tharp’s book on creativity, The Creative Habit. As an Emmy and Tony award winning choreographer, indeed, one of America’s most successful choreographers, she has proven herself capable of being creative day in day out – year in year out.
The white room is her metaphor for the beginning of a project, and she compares it to a blank canvas, a blank piece of paper, a blank computer screen: the moment before creativity begins.
As Twenty-Somethings, we are living our lives in white rooms. Yes, we have graduated high school, and yes, maybe we have even managed to graduate college. But our futures are wide and long and mostly blank.
Daily, perhaps, there is a new white room to face.
And that can be terrifying.
We are walking into one room, painting it up and opening the door, only to find ourselves walking into another white room. It can be frustrating. It can be intimidating. It can be exciting.
But we can use this time to learn and hone our creativity. We can be developing the skills and habits necessary to approach a blank canvas without turning away in fear.
Our futures are calling us to be creative.
And then, when we are called to positions of leadership, leadership’s brand new challenges will be a new white room.
Which we will face with creativity.
Caroline Davis is a new contributor to Evoke. Check out her bio on the Contributors page.
Looking for more insight on facing the future? Take a look at Defining Success.