Hi! Welcome to the 4 CreativeWheels newsletter — your weekly dose of insights that help you intentionally understand and apply creativity at its core.

Week #48 is here! Thanks very much for all the positive reactions and responses to last week’s issue! I love and appreciate that you found it helpful. And funny enough, I was inspired by one part of it. I’ve been reading “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones. And it also made me think about possibility. Talking about possibilities…

In this week’s issue, we explore why the belief in possibility is creative and important for creation.

This piece explores how belief in possibility acts as the foundational engine of human creativity. Drawing on nature’s persistent outliers alongside historic breakthroughs such as planes, we examine how leaning into life’s default state of uncertainty lets us expand what is actually possible. By choosing to believe in possibility even when things look dire, you’ll see how taking what you have can reframe your circumstances, generate a domino effect of new ideas, and leave a step for others to build upon. Believing our way to progress.

Without further ado…

Let’s start the ride!

We often chase the next better fix. Yet, sometimes you have to remember the simple things. Just like many perfectionists in history, I was rereading my latest work. In the session, I was trying to extract what I would do better next time. The session did not become too critical, thankfully. However, after the review, I came back to a particular statement I wrote. Even before I started writing this piece, I read it again. That sentence said, “There is nothing less creative than not believing in possibility.” And as cliché as it sounds, that is right.

I know this already sounds like a hope core/motivational piece. But what if, despite the positivity that statement exhibits, it is rooted in reality? Bear with me for a second (or two or three). Society has the tendency to correlate optimism with naivety. Depending on the situation, the more optimistic you are, the more naive people will call you. It’s even worse when your optimism is rooted in something that was deemed difficult or impossible. That optimism is perceived as an infraction or a pointless use of energy.

That is fair. It’s easier to embrace what was. It’s far easier and more comfortable to cling to what was certain. Technically, nothing is certain. Uncertainty is the feature of life, not a bug. It works together with the other feature of life, which is change. However, to some extent, it is more comfortable to repeat the same patterns of the past. It worked before, so it might work again. It happened before several times; hence, it’s likely what will happen. There is familiarity. Plus, why change something that is reliable? At least, with that reliability, you already know how you can respond. There is no gap to fill, and time, energy, and other resources would be preserved. This is the reasoning that is commonly accepted. And I can see where people come from.

However, I cannot help but think about nature, history, and reality. When you look at nature, there are many things going on. The lion is the king of the jungle. Trees love sunlight and enjoy photosynthesis. Ants can carry my fallen sandwich back to their palace despite being significantly smaller. And when strong winds pay a visit to dark clouds, you might need an umbrella before going outside. In nature, there are principles here and there.

Still, when you look closer at it, uncertainty remains the default. You would think that a creature as slow and fragile as a snail would disappear. With the vastness and cruelty of nature, their strengths and weaknesses do not favor them. Yet, snails are still roaming around (shout-out to Turbo). We have extensive knowledge and understanding in multiple fields related to how nature works. The studies and discoveries truly have been helpful. But there are times when, despite the many bright human beings we have, our predictions turn out to be inaccurate.

The same can be said about history. There are patterns that repeat. And the two patterns I would bet on if this article was sponsored by Kalshi would be uncertainty and change (hopefully they’ll never be a sponsor). No matter which point in history you zoom in on, you will notice uncertainty and change. In hindsight, you would see the dots connecting and predict the end. Still, even when we look back, there are things that do not make sense. How did this happen despite this or that? How did this change when this was the constant? And history and nature are partakers of our reality.

When you look at reality, certainty depends on context. We have the law of gravity. It works most of the time and is hard to beat. My fallen sandwich is a testament to gravity’s pull. Yet, there are times when the certainty of gravity is defied. Currently, there are thousands of flights taking place. Each one of those airplanes is defying gravity’s strong law. Funny enough, there was a time when we thought that gravity’s pull and strength were certain.

And that brings me to the Wright brothers. The Wright brothers are one of the best examples of creativity. They took creativity and flew with it (pun intended). They showed that believing in possibility is creative. On paper, they had nothing going for them. Their social status was not great. Compared to others who have tried to fly, the Wright brothers did not have the resources it takes.

Let’s forget resources. Just the idea of humans flying was deemed insanity. Nobody believed in the possibility that we could create our way to fly. In the Wright brothers’ time, The New York Times published an article that said, “Man won’t fly for a million years.” Unfortunately, the Wright brothers had to embrace looking crazy. Fortunately for them and the rest of us, the Wright brothers believed in a possibility. Here we are. Humans are flying every single day. There are so many flights that it’s affecting the environment (a discussion for another day).

Moreover, because of their belief, the Wright brothers have created an industry. For the adults who love “real” jobs, because of the Wright brothers’ creativity, there are more than 10 million people working in the aviation industry. And according to the Air Transport Action Group, the industry supported 86.5 million jobs globally in 2023. These are millions of lives impacted. And the numbers will keep on increasing.

There were and are many things that exist as a result of the Wright brothers’ feat. We can even add in the countless memories people had through travel. Of course, it’s not all positive. There are negative things that also came. However, the pros outweigh the cons. And the Wright brothers inspired generations after them to also go for what is deemed insane. We currently have planes that mainly use fuel. But what if another duo comes up with planes that use clean energy? Heck, what if we won’t be using planes but be using bee-like machines? Who knows.

All I know is that the belief in possibility is creative. And creativity begets creativity. When one, two, three, or more create something that was deemed impossible, others will follow their lead. And that creates a domino effect. Most importantly, there would be more belief. Creativity thrives with ideas. Ideas are nurtured by the thoughts we often engage with. And our recurring thoughts are impacted by the belief we hold. Hence, believing in possibility is a way to remain creative. And when more belief is grown, more possibilities are born.

It’s not easy to believe in possibility when things are looking dire. There have been multiple unfortunate events as of late. It’s the somber (and frustrating) part of life. Nevertheless, it’s best to still choose to believe in possibilities. I’m doing my best to do so. When you do it, you’re more capable of handling whatever life hands you. You’ll see the cards you’ve been dealt and play it like it was the hand you wanted. You’ll choose to let the current situation be the perfect situation to get to where you want (just like the Wrights).

Is there any guarantee that you will fly? No. Will you reach your destination? You might not. Will your creativity bring forth the solution you need? It’s uncertain. Will it be worth it? Yes, it will. Even though you might not get that desired result, you would make progress that changed the situation. And you would create a step upon which others would build. As Salie from the movie Cars said, "Don't fear failure. Be afraid of not having the chance. You have the chance." As long as we breathe, we all have the chance to be creative. We all have the chance to believe in possibility. So, what is the possibility you will choose to believe in?

Sources: https://aviationbenefits.org/economic-benefits/supporting-employment/
https://atag.org/facts-figures/

Here are two (or more) creative works that you’ll not regret checking out:

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Thank you so much for reading! 

As always, feel free to reply to this email & share your thoughts, stories, and any experience related to this topic. I’d love to hear them!  

C ya next Week! 

Embracing Creativity™,

Richard M.

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