I’ve always maintained the thought that “creativity” isn’t so much an approach to a situation as it is a frame of mind. Any form of expressing creativity, be it through discovering unique solutions to a problem, or merely telling a story in an engaging way, has never been particularly difficult for me. I am a creative person, as is evidenced not only in the way I work, but also in every aspect of my core personality.
Plenty of people can write a good story, and just as many can paint one. There are a million songwriters out there, and hundreds of communicators who can masterfully create fantastic, memorable campaigns that make a difference. On paper, I am one among many creative individuals.
The thing that sets me apart is that I am highly unusual.
I am accustomed to the occasional raised eyebrow when I ask the question, “Have you ever wondered what life would be like if…” followed by today’s random musing. For example, I wonder what life would be like if we maintained our current state of technological advancement, but retained old-fashioned mannerisms from the Regency era? I wonder what would happen if all of the birds in the world suddenly fell silent? I wonder how the girl on the bus might look at me if I were a disgruntled older man in a trenchcoat, as opposed to the unopposing basic white girl that I am? I wonder how the businessman on the phone beside me might feel about the idea of instigating paid paternity leave in addition to maternity leave?
All of these questions pop up in everything I do, with everyone I meet, everywhere I go.
I recognize that this is a somewhat unusual way of viewing the world. However, now that we are rapidly becoming bored with creative stagnation to the point of resorting to writing the same novels and redoing old movies because we have run out of original material to work with, “unusual” may just be the best thing to happen to us.
We’ve seen the tropes. We know the plot twists. We expect the unexpected. Even the most creative minds struggle to entertain us when we have binged just about every story there is to be told through various media outlets accessible at the tap of a finger.
This is where my brand of unusual becomes valuable.
Creative stories are no longer enough to satisfy the general public, so instead, we must work to subvert the themes we naturally anticipate and bring something new and intriguing to the table. If the goal is to make the audience think, the solution is to surprise them.
True, I am just branching out into the world of communications, an ever-evolving field that depends on unique ideas and creative minds. Though I am inexperienced, I am the perfect candidate for that “fresh-eyes” position that will bring unusual and brilliant ideas to the table and break the cycle of monotony. I am Abbie Speed, an unusual woman with an unusual name and unusual ideas that just might create incredible change.
