When I was seven, I wanted to become a firefighter. It was a noble cause and it sounded exciting to me. But that wish didn't last long. A few years later, I was adamant that I wanted to be a fighter pilot. That was an upgrade from being a firefighter 🤪 I would get to fly, super-fast mind you, and I didn't care if that job was risky. When I found out I had to go through military school first and that Lebanon did not have this specific military position open to women... I had to recant and find myself another dream to pursue. That's when I imagined myself studying architecture and putting together beautiful spaces. I asked dad's best friend, who was an architect, for some guidance and I started conceiving 3D areas in my mind before jotting them on paper. My maternal grandma was proud of me and would hang my weekly draft on her kitchen wall and ask me about some details of it.

Fast forward to when I turn 17, I return to Lebanon to go to university... and I end up enrolling in something totally opposite to studying architecture... My diploma was wrongly transcribed by the Ministry of Education and it took time to rectify the mistake. Therefore, I missed the entry exam deadline. Long story short, I registered at a different faculty with the intention of switching back to architecture the following year. I was still young and could have taken a sabbatical year from learning but I chose not to. That temporary fix turned out to be permanent and I graduated 3 years later with a ... Political Science degree. That wasn't very creative at all and once set on that path, I didn't think of coming back to my original plan. I continued to obtain a master's degree and a postgraduate research degree that would allow me to apply for a PhD in Political Sciences. When the university couldn't provide me with a tutor for my thesis, I decided to start working and forget about my doctorate. The title meant little and I was eager to become financially independent.

Another jump in time and I am my own boss and I'm handling the creative works of the products my company is selling and all the required artwork. I worked with designers and artists and this was the first realization in years about how much this work would make me happy. Yes, I had to factor in their mood swings and their fickle temperaments. And I got them to deliver what I wanted within the set timeframe. Because I could understand how they operated. Still, I didn't think I was creative. I knew I was smart enough to explain what I wanted clearly and have another person who was artistic execute it on my behalf. When I finally moved into my own home, I had to sketch up my personal spaces in it. That's when the reflex of envisioning the different rooms, the pieces of furniture in each one, and also in some cases the compositions that would make these spots reflect me, kicked in. And that was only the beginning!

Quotes about creativity:

Creativity is intelligence having fun - Albert Einstein

Creativity takes courage - Henri Matisse

There is no innovation and creativity without failure - Brene Brown

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous - Bill Moyers

Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye - Dorothy Parker

The best use of imagination is creativity - Deepak Chopra

You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have - Maya Angelou

Creativity is the greatest expression of liberty - Bryant H. McGill

True creativity is impossible without some measure of passion - Teresa Amabile

In the picture, I am holding a metal 2D world map which I wanted to hang on the wall that became my "window to the universe". I transformed that white wall into a piece of art, displaying nice quotes with pictures I had taken during my travels to several countries, surrounding the central piece which is a hand-painted nebula. I am actually proud of what I did with that wall. It does reveal my passion for traveling and shows special moments captured on the go... Today, I know I am creative. And I make use of my imagination to give life to some of my mental concepts.