Positivity Is Earned Through the Creative Process

What Does It Mean to Be Creative?

At Play Full Ground, I often describe creativity not as a talent, but as a practice—a way of approaching the world with curiosity, persistence, and care. Through project-based learning, students learn how to turn ideas into actions and actions into understanding. But what does it really mean to be creative?

I once had a conversation with a student who just started her college education this semester about what it means to develop a project from the ground up.

Making the Invisible Visible

A blank canvas—the beginning of making the invisible visible.

As an artist, my work is to make something one of a kind—to make the invisible visible. Much of my practice revolves around the idea of making everyday art—turning the ordinary into something that invites reflection, imagination, or connection.

Breaking free from societal expectations is essential to being creative. And learning how to be creative—how to see differently, think independently, and act with purpose—is what I offer through Play Full Ground’s microschool. But that raises an important question: what does it really mean to be creative?

Positivity, Perception, and Persistence

In the article “Scientists explain how happiness makes us less creative, (Livni, Quarz, 2022), the author writes that “most scientists say that creativity calls on persistence and problem-solving skills, not positivity.” This statement deeply resonates with me. In fact, my sense of optimism has been shaped by years of work that demanded persistence and problem-solving. My positivity didn’t make me creative—my creative process built my positivity.

People often see me as a cheerful, happy person—perhaps because of how I look. I’m a petite woman who appears younger than my age, and I tend to smile a lot. My mother used to tell me that while I can’t change the way I was born, I can offer others a positive impression by smiling. I took her advice seriously and developed my “smiley face.” It once led a teacher to doubt my illness and later even helped me get a receptionist job. Those who know me casually assume I’m always happy and positive, but those who know me well also know I’m a critical thinker who questions and observes deeply.

Playful, curious, critical—always asking, ‘How can we be creative?’

The Two Phases of Creativity

The article also describes two phases of the creative process: idea generation and problem-solving. It says that “a positive mood is useful when first brainstorming, processing information, and coming up with as many ideas as possible—you don’t want to bring judgment into that, because it could stifle idea generation. But rigor is the key to overcoming obstacles and completing tasks—and good mood doesn’t improve problem-solving.”

This distinction feels very true in both my art and my teaching. Creativity needs both—the openness to explore and the rigor to refine. The first phase is playful and imaginative; the second demands patience, persistence, and critical thinking.

Guiding ideas into action—brainstorming with bright minds

Learning Through Practice and Projects

So how did I gain both positivity and problem-solving skills?

Through practice. Through projects. Through the ongoing process of turning ideas into reality—again and again, resisting compliance and refusing to give up.

In project-based learning, this process becomes visible and tangible. Students start with curiosity, then move through uncertainty, challenge, and discovery. They learn that creativity isn’t about being in a good mood—it’s about staying with a question long enough to uncover something true, useful, or beautiful.

Project-Based Learning in Action

At Play Full Ground, we treat creativity as a muscle that grows through making, reflecting, and sharing. Each project becomes an experiment in both thinking and doing—a space where joy and struggle coexist, and where persistence becomes its own kind of happiness.

Building the dress together—our first collective art project at the Monterey County Fair

Creativity Beyond Feeling

Creativity, after all, is not a feeling—it’s a way of engaging with the world. When we practice it together, through projects that matter, we learn that creation itself can be a path to understanding, connection, and growth. It’s a practice that can be applied not only to academic learning, but also to the development of one’s unique path in life as self expression—something we explore every day through the new programs at Play Full Ground.

New Programs Starting January 2026!

Full-time and part-time learning opportunities: Co-Learning Space Share, Art + Creativity + Community courses, and Socially Engaged Art/Project-Based Learning Microschool programs.

Visit our website and sign up for our newsletter to stay updated!

Join the community—Play Full Ground's Creative Microschool/Learning Lab